The Star: February 29, 2024

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20 The Star Thursday February 29 2024 SPORTS NEWS brought to you by The home of CurTains, blinds, shuTTers & ouTdoor awnings 30 % OFF Sapphire Curtain Collection Unit 2 / 99 Sawyers Arms Rd 03 365 4666 or 0800 836 587 www.venluree.co.nz Burnside West set sights on more silverware after one-day success • By Sam Coughlan BURNSIDE West Uni are swiftly turning their focus to the back end of the two-day competition after their first piece of silverware this season. Burnside beat Lancaster Park by five wickets on Sunday in the final of the one-day portion of the OEM Audio men’s premiership – their second win in the last three seasons. Captain Matt Hay said the team has had to shift their attention quickly. “We’ve got two rounds to go and we’ve got a wee bit of a buffer at the top there. “I guess the focus changed pretty quickly into making sure we finish the season well.” Burnside hold a 15-point lead over Lancaster Park in the twoday standings with two rounds left, spanning four weeks. Hay said they were staying relaxed ahead of the run-in to the end of the season. “We’ve got a pretty young group of guys who just enjoy playing cricket, and the good thing with the youth I guess is they probably don’t look too far ahead and they just really enjoy playing and training and ripping in.” But the prospect of completing an historic double of one-day and two-day trophies – a feat last accomplished by Burnside in 1992 – is extremely exciting. “It would be very, very special for us,” said Hay. “We are aware of, I suppose, what it means for the club and what place it would have in the club’s history to be able to do that.’’ The first team standing in their way is East Shirley, who they will clash with over the next two Saturdays in the first of their last two games.Easts are only sixth in the two-day standings but Hay WINNERS: The victorious Burnside West Uni team after winning the one-day competition against Lancaster Park. Right – Burnside’s Oscar Jackson took 3/29 in the final. PHOTOS: SHANE YOUNG/MIKE HARVEY said they’ll pose a strong threat. “Yeah, (they’re) always a tough opponent, no matter how they’re going in a competition. “They’re always up for a fight and a very competitive side, so we know we’ve got to be good this weekend and they’re not going to give us anything. “We’ll just have to rip in and try and put them under pressure.” Other games this round see second-placed Lancaster Park look to keep the pressure on when they visit Old Boys Collegians, currently fifth, at Elmwood Park. Lancaster Park scraped a draw in their match against Burnside last Saturday, holding on for 69 overs on the second day and surviving being eight wickets down. OBC’s match with St Albans was curtailed by pitch issues meaning only one day’s play was possible, leading to no result. Heathcote host St Albans this weekend at Heathcote Domain, after coming close to forcing a come-from-behind victory against Sydenham, trailing after the first innings but coming one wicket short of bowling Sydenham out well short of their target. Sydenham will pick themselves up and take on Merivale- Papanui at Sydenham Park, who are still searching for their first win of the competition. CANTERBURY SPORTS CORNER LISTEN LIVE ON SENZ CHRISTCHURCH 1260AM IT'S KIWI FOR SPORT. DOWNLOAD THE SENZ APP.
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz Cashmere, Elmwood look to Thursday February 29 2024 The Star SPORT 21 continue winning form in semis • By Diane Keenan CASHMERE’S MEN’S and Elmwood’s women’s tennis teams, the winners of the first round of Christchurch premier interclub competition, are looking to repeat their success in the second-round semi-final playoffs on Saturday. In the men’s competition Cashmere has been a class act all season and meets rivals Elmwood, who have been affected by player availability in the post-Christmas competition. The other semi-final is between Bishopdale and Burnside Park, teams of young players, many of whom have played college tennis in the United States. Cashmere will go into its semi-final as favourites given its dominance in the round-robin matches, but much will depend on who of the many players on Elmwood’s books takes the court. Cashmere captain Tim Meredith said his team is looking forward to playing Elmwood in front of a home crowd. “We haven’t played them in semi-final or final on our courts for some time. We always enjoy our matches against them and recognise it will be 50-50 given the squad of amazing players CLASS ACT: Cashmere, captained by Tim Meredith, goes into the second-round semi-final playoffs as favourite in the men’s premier interclub competition. they can call on,” he said. Meredith is playing with his brothers Tim and Matt, and Lucas Evans who was the top singles player for the Christ’s College team that won this week’s South Island secondary schools championships at Wilding Park. Harry Weeds, who is also an outstanding golfer, makes a timely return to tennis this week as Cashmere’s other regular, Liam Barrett is unavailable. Elmwood’s manager Ashley Forbes said his club will field a very competitive team for the play-offs. Elmwood only had three singles players last week against Burnside Park, including Tennis Canterbury’s general manager Bevan Johns, Lawrence Darling and James Spence. They put up a good fight, but when play was abandoned late afternoon due to rain, Burnside Park won as it was leading 3-2. Forbes said the good news is both Lawrence and Elliott Darling are available this week. Bishopdale goes into its semifinal against Burnside Park full of confidence after trouncing Te Kura Hagley and earning full points last week. Bishopdale can be proud of its season during which its form has improved each week. Burnside Park will be tough competition as coach Remi Feneon was back in the team last week and EJ Gonzaga, the Canterbury secondary schools’ champion, is in form. In the women’s competition Elmwood is 17 points clear of its nearest rival, Te Kura Hagley. Both teams are stacked with experienced players who have competed at national level. Elmwood will play at home against the young Bishopdale team, which had to default last week as most of its players were involved in the secondary schools’ teams event. Elmwood has the formidable Abby Mason and Louise Oxnevad as its top players, and possibly mid-Canterbury’s Holly-Jayne Feutz, the Canterbury secondary schools’ champion. FORMIDABLE: Elmwood has top player Louise Oxnevad. Te Kura Hagley plays Cashmere in the other semifinal. Ruby Young, Cashmere’s number one and its trump card, could face Te Kura Hagley’s captain Beth Williamson. Others in the strong Te Kura Hagley line-up include Michele Kelsen, Petra Belzova, Bailee Wilson and Adele Orangi. The finals will be held on March 9. United fizzing ahead of Charity Cup clash • By Sam Coughlan CHRISTCHURCH United will have their first chance to pick up silverware in 2024 when they take on Wellington Olympic in the pre-season Charity Cup in Wellington on Sunday. The cup is played for by the winners of the previous season’s National League and Chatham Cup winners – which were Olympic and United respectively. United head coach Ryan Edwards said he’s excited for his team to be in the Charity Cup. “I think it’s a really cool initiative for New Zealand football to get a competition like Ryan Edwards this started up in the country and it’s gonna be really cool.” The chance to pick up silverware early in the season is enticing for Edwards – although he feels his team is up against it due to the timing of the fixture. “I think Olympic have been training for five weeks because they’ve got the OFC (Champions League) qualifiers afterwards,” he said. “So they’ll be at the end of their pre-season in terms of match readiness and we’re at the start of ours, so it’s not a very balanced position to be going into.” There’s a lot of familiarity between the teams – former Olympic winger Joel Stevens has moved to join United this year while coaches Paul Ifill and Ekow Quainoo have joined Olympic, along with former United forward Eddie Wilkinson. Edwards also represented Olympic in his playing days, andsaid it’s those sorts of personal connections between the two sides would make for a good match. “I think it will add a bit more to the match. It just it heightens the kind of intent you put towards the game.” The Charity Cup on Sunday kicks off at 1pm at Martin Luckie Park in Wellington. LIVE ON SENZ RADIO 1260 AM
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