Tough Road For Wollongong Towards Scg Cup

Illawarra Mercury

Friday December 26, 2008

By MIKE DRISCOLL

WOLLONGONG have been handed the toughest draw of the four clubs from the region to advance to this weekend's SCG Country Cup carnival in Bathurst and Orange.

The annual event featured 87 teams from across NSW bidding to play in the final at the SCG on January 18.

Reigning Illawarra premiers Balgownie and Wollongong, plus leading South Coast clubs Albion Park and Oak Flats won through three regional rounds of the Cup to make tomorrow's knockout round of 16.

Tamworth, beaten finalists the past two years are the top seeds, with the two SCG finalists to be decided on Monday.

In tomorrow's round of 16 games, Wollongong, the 15th seeds, are in Orange to take on second seed Stockton Northern Districts, skippered by hard-hitting all-rounder Mark Dries, a former Australian baseballer and Australian Country cricketer. Balgownie, despite winning the Illawarra premiership, one-day title and Twenty20 crown last season have only been seeded at No10 and have drawn seventh seed Clarence CC in Bathurst.

Ninth seeds Albion Park take on Maitland (8) in Orange, while Oak Flats are the highest-ranked team from this region at No4 and take on Waratah Mayfield (13), also in Orange, for a place in Sunday's quarter-finals.

Wollongong skipper Jason Welsh admits he knows nothing about his team's first-up opponent.

"To be honest I didn't know where we were seeded or what to expect from Stockton," Welsh said.

"Being seeded at two they must be okay. We'll just go out there and play our best and see what happens. Our expectations are a bit lower than a few other teams I suppose but if we can win a game then who knows how far we can go."

Wollongong have had an inconsistent season in the Illawarra competition and are only in eighth place at the Christmas break.

"Our batting's been really affected with Blisso (Steve Blissenden) injured for six weeks, Amit Balgi, Cam Johnson and Dan Maher all unavailable for a lot of games," Welsh said.

"It's hurt us. Blisso and Amit are back this weekend which will be a big help."

The final 16 of the SCG Country Cup is dominated by Newcastle clubs.

The round of 16 draw and seedings are: Tamworth (1) v Cowra (16); Clarence (7) v Balgownie (10); Albury Wodonga (5) v Macleay Valley (12); Oak Flats (4) v Waratah Mayfield (13); Stockton Northern Districts (2) v Wollongong (15); Maitland (8) v Albion Park (9); Toronto Workers (6) v Tuggeranong Valley (11); Hamilton Wickham (3) v The Entrance (14).

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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