By Matt Zell

Cult hero Henry Johnson continued his rich vein of form with a hat trick for Breelong to ensure victory on Friday night.

Winning the toss & batting first, Breelong managed a respectable 8/147 off their 40 overs with Adam Jones top scoring on 65*.

He was ably supported by Captain Liam Zell (35) & Matt Everett 35. Jack Irving, H Gaynor & Ben Storer all took 2 wickets.

Marthaguy were in trouble early with Alex Sutherland taking a wicket in the 2nd over followed by Matt Zell taking 2 in the 5th to have the visitors reeling @ 3/11.

James Glasson & John McKay then restored order with a 28 run partnership before Johnson entered the fray in the 17th over.

He took a wicket with his 3 ball, followed by 2 more in succession amid jubilant scenes from his team mates.

Some late order resistance from Ben McCalman (37) & Jack Irving 16 added some respectability to the USC Marthaguy score but in the end the home team ran out winners by 40 runs.

Johnson with 3/36 was the pick of the bowlers with Sutherland, Zell & Lachlan Briggs also chiming in.

In other results Curban defeated Eumungerie by 8 wickets, comfortably chasing down 135 for victory with John Bunter & Stu Younghusband both recording half centuries.

Gavin Seaman (43) & Jay Thurston 40 top scored for Eumungerie with Scott Chandler taking 4/22.

Gidgee continued on their winning ways with an 85 run win over Baradine, Gidgee skipper Tyne Chapman was the star of the day with a polished 75 not out.

Gidgee skipper Tyne Chapman was very impressive at bat against Baradine on Saturday. Photo supplied.

Tallis McKewen was the pick of the Gidgee bowlers taking 4/3.

In Tooraweenah, Coonabarabran managed a 6 wicket win, chasing down the required 94 for the loss of just 4 wickets. This ensured Coonabarabran go through to compete for the Bendigo Bank ABC Shield.

The unofficial points table after 9 rounds is as follows:

Breelong 54

Gidgee 47

Coonabarabran 40

Town Services 40

USC Marthaguy 36

Biddon Tooraweenah 36

Baradine 34

Curban 32

Eumungerie 32

The competition now splits into two tiers with the top five teams to play each other once more to decide semi-final positions.

The bottom four teams do the same & will be competing for the Ossie Carrett Cup. The draw is being worked on & will be available on MyCricket in the coming days.

Thank you all for reading, good luck to all teams competing this weekend & I will provide a full report again next week.