The Coad Cup is an annual knock-out event held at Studley Royal for which all Under 9 teams in the Nidderdale League must play in a preliminary round in order to qualify.  This year's qualify teams were, North Stainley, Helperby, Harrogate, Studley Royal, Pateley Bridge, Beckwithshaw & Spofforth.

The Magnificent Seven Eight

Back Row Left to Right
Matthew Bird, George Grafton, Chester Ribbons, Sam Ignatiou, Angus Graham-Rack
Front Row Left to Right
Louis Strangeway, Louis Jarvis, Ethan Westerman

In our debut year in the Nidderdale Junior Cricket League our Under 9's qualified for the finals day and played three back-to-back competitive games to earn a place in the Grand Final of The Coad Cup.

Our first round game was against Pateley Bridge.  Batting first, they scored 248.  Leading with the wickets was Chester Ribbons who took a couple, Angus Graham-Rack, Louis Strangeway and Sam Ignatiou took one a piece.  In the field we were not too bad but would improve in the next game.  Batting second we scored 287 so a comfortable victory.  Sam top scored with 14 followed by George Grafton with 12 and Matthew Bird with 9.  Everybody contributed runs and importantly did not lose many wickets.

In the semi-final we met hosts Studley Royal "A".  We batted first and scored a huge 309 with Louis Jarvis hitting a fantastic 29 (watch out Dad), closely followed by Chester Ribbons with 23.  Again, every other player contributed with runs (George Grafton 17, Ethan Westerman 15).  In a spooky coincidence Studley scored 248 just like Pateley Bridge.  It was a great performance in the field with some brilliant catching and run saving.  The leading-wicket taker was Angus Graham-Rack with 3 followed by Matthew Bird and George Grafton with 2 a piece. Ethan and Sam also got a wicket each.

So we qualified for the grand final and on to meet our nemesis, North Stainley "A", the only team to have beaten us thus far in the league competition!  Could we restrict them to 248 as we had the previous two teams?  The short answer was no as they amassed 329 to our 255.  Make no mistake North Stainley are a strong side with a couple of very good players who bowl quickly and strike the ball very well.  Nevertheless, it was a real highlight to see George Grafton take on their star player with bat and ball.  George top scored with 23, followed by Chester with 13.  Everyone else tried very hard in front in front of quite a vocal crowd.  In the field we took 4 wickets (Matthew, Ethan, Chester and Louis Jarvis) and could have had a few more with a little bit of luck, our fielding showed initiative and did not require heavy mentoring, mistakes were made but we will learn from these.  In truth the best team won but I hope that the boys take something positive from the emotional rollercoaster which is cricket.  North Stainley are clearly an experienced side but I think our team did a great job especially when considered that until this season only 3 of our team had played competitive cricket before.

I hope that the finalists medal will be the first of many but even more that the boys continue to enjoy the game and each other's efforts.  Well done to you all!

Many thanks to Julian Graham-Rack for doing such a great job with the scoring.  It's not an easy task although sometimes easy to forget how valuable it is.  Thanks also to all who contributed in whatever way throughout the day.

Jason Westerman
U9's Manager