SOCCER – 

Grenfell Stingers secure spot in 2018 grand final match

By: Ben Walker

Three weeks out from the kick-off of the 2018 LASA Competition the Grenfell Stingers held a special meeting before beginning training, the reason – would we have enough players to field a team?

Grenfell had had a men’s soccer team for the last 20 years and while we certainly didn’t want to fold,  8 players wasn’t enough. 

We put out a desperate call for help and it was answered. Suddenly we found ourselves a squad of 20 players.

Often when a new team is put together it takes some time for players to click and results to come.

This proved not to be the case for the Stingers and in the very first game of the season, against a traditional rival Parkes Rovers, recorded a good 6-3 win.

Grenfell continued their strong start by winning the following 2 games. 3 games into the new season and we were undefeated and had scored 15 goals whilst conceding 7.

This trend of scoring plenty of goals but perhaps conceding more than we probably should’ve continued throughout the whole of the 2018 season.

We had played 7 games (for a strong 6 wins and 1 loss) we had scored a total of 36 goals and conceded 20.

Throughout the middle 3rd of the season Stingers struggled for form and consistency.

We were still sitting in second place on the competition ladder but only a couple of points ahead of the 3rd place Rovers.

Parkes Wanderers had shown themselves the competition favourites and were well out in front, thanks largely to a 7 game straight run of wins. By seasons end they would only lose 3 games from 16 played. 

With finals approaching it was time for the Stingers to rally and rally we did.

We beat Wanderers at home and then in our final game of the regular season we beat them again in Parkes in a closely contested match that finished 3-2.

We retained our second place on the ladder with – 9 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses from our 16 games.

The first semi-final would be first vs second, winner straight through to the Grand Final and while we knew we could beat Wanderers, they were the team at home and certainly carried the tag of favourites.

It was a tight hard fought match but in the end Grenfell walked away victorious 4-3. We had won a week off and a spot in the Grand Final.

The Grand Final will be played at Harrison Park in Parkes at 12pm. It will against Wanderers so it promises to be a cracker of a match.

If you are interested in attending and would like more information please feel free to get in contact with us by our Facebook page or by calling Mitch on 0439 455 596.

A special thankyou goes out to our loyal supporters, though slight in number you make the time and the effort to come and cheer us all on, it is much appreciated.

To the Royal and the Grenfell Meat Barn thank you for your continued support, without it we wouldn’t be able to keep the team going.

Thank you to the club and committee members who put in the hard work behind the scenes so that we can rock up on the Sunday and play.

And finally a massive thankyou to Grenfell Stingers players both new and old for a terrific season.

Win or lose on Sunday (hopefully win) its been a mighty effort by all to make it to the end and we have done it while having a lot of fun. 

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TENNIS – 

BUCKNELL AND POWER

WIN MEN'S TENNIS

Round 4 of the Men's Spring Tennis Competition was played in much warmer conditions on Tuesday night.

Overall results were once again very close with the winners for the round being Andrew Bucknell and Rick Power, winning a total of 27 games. 

Their first set was not true to form, going down 1/7 to Charles Harvey and Lewis Keogh. Andrew and Rick went on to win their other four sets in fine style, 6/2, 5/3, 7/1, 8/0.

A very good recovery by the two men.

Grahame Edwards and Rod Freudenstein combined well to win a total of 23 games for the night.

Their first set was a 4/4 draw, they struggled in the second set to go down 2/6 but then played good tennis to win their last three sets 6/2, 5/3, 6/2.

Charles Harvey and Lewis Keogh finished up winning a total of 22 games for the round. 

After their easy first up win of 7/1 it then appeared they were in for a top round, winning the second set 6/2, however, the wheels fell off, going down 2/6 in the third, levelling the fourth 4/4, and dropping the last set 3/5.

Danny Joyce, filling in for Stuart McKellar and his partner for Round 4, Mark Liebich played consistent tennis to win 21 games for the night. All their sets were closely fought. 

The first set was 4/4, they won the second set 6/2 then their next two sets they went down 3/5, 3/5.

They finished the round winning the last set 5/3.

A good result for the men. 

Anthony Wilson and Arnold Brown battled away in their sets to win a total of 16 games.

They levelled the first set 4/4, lost the second set 2/6, played good tennis to win the third 7/1. 

Lost the plot in their next two sets going down 1/7, 2/6.

The other pair taking part in Round 4, Graham Watt and John Walmsley won 11 games.

Two of their sets were 4/4, 4/4. Graham was a fill-in for Grant Fisher.

Round 5 of the Men's Spring Tennis Competition will be played next Tuesday night weather permitting.

SOCIAL TENNIS

Social tennis players were looking forward to a pleasant spring afternoon yesterday so they could enjoy a friendly game.

Tennis commences at around 1.30 pm and your most welcome to join in for a game.

For tennis inquiries contact Danny Joyce on 0428 436 266.

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PONY CLUB – 

GRENFELL PONY CLUB

The Grenfell Pony Club will be the recipients of the proceeds of this month’s Grenfell Bowling Club Trivia Night.

The event will take place at the club on the last Friday of the month, which this month will be Friday September 28.

Cost is $10 per player and teams are limited to 6 players.

All members of the community are invited to attend.

Team registrations to be in by 6pm for a 6.30pm start.

For more information contact the club on 02 6343 1656.

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GRANTS FUNDING OPEN FOR COMMUNITY/SPORTING GROUPS

Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke has encouraged community organisations looking to build new or upgrade current facilities to apply for funding from the NSW Government's Infrastructure Grants program. 

Ms Cooke said applications could be submitted for sport and recreation, arts and culture, and emergency preparedness until Monday, September 24.

"This funding can make a real difference to the local community, either by providing new or improved sporting or cultural facilities, or by protecting local residents in emergency situations," Ms Cooke said.

"This year will see the NSW Government complete its commitment to invest $50 million into community infrastructure projects across NSW in four years."

The funding is provided through the Clubgrants Category 3 program, which receives a contribution from registered clubs' gaming machine profits to benefit local communities.

Funding ranges are $50,000 to $200,000 for arts and culture, $10,000 to $200,000 for emergency preparedness and $100,000 to $300,000 for sport and recreation.

Applications for the current round of Infrastructure Grants opened this month and remain open until Monday, September 24.

For more information including details on how to apply for grants, visit https://www.responsiblegambling.nsw.gov.au/infrastructure-grants/infrastructure-grants