There’s just a fortnight of cricket left in the season for the A grade City Colts, and they’re determined not to let a second go to waste. With Rovers United Bruck, Beechworth and a final-round bye on the schedule, the end of the season is rapidly approaching. The Colts have just one win from the season to date and will not play finals, but the young group is still working hard to improve their individual and team games through the back end of the season. Injured skipper Kent Braden said continual improvement was the metric by which they judge themselves. “I think the opportunity’s there for the boys to try and finish off with a few personal performances,” he said. “We’ve done a bit of work on some individuals with their personal performances. “With a few of the batters, there were a couple of technique things here and there, but a lot of it is mindset with them. “Their attitude’s been pretty good, but at the moment, there’s a fine line between giving them too much information and letting them find their own way.” While they haven’t had the success they would’ve liked, there have been some very impressive moments throughout the season from the Colts. With a group primarily of kids currently in or fresh out of the under 16s, and wildly under-experienced in comparison to the rest of the competition, they’ve shown a lot of heart. On the back foot most weeks, the Colts have only not batted their full allotment of 45 overs on three occasions, showing the resolute defence present in the young batters. “A good example is Connor Ormond - he was disappointed with how he batted last week, 13 off 52 balls, but if he didn’t do that, he wouldn’t have given us a chance to score a few at the back end,” Braden said. “I think we got 20 off the last two overs, and that comes from wearing bowling attacks down, so he did his job. “Don’t get me wrong, we’d love to be scoring a lot more and at a better rate. “It’d be nice to get to that 200 mark – if you went through the numbers we’d have a lot of scores around that 140-160 mark, and you just don’t win enough games with that in this comp anymore. “That’s the challenge for these next two weeks, then going forward over the next few seasons.” Up against them in their penultimate match is the top-of-the-table Rovers United Bruck, but Braden was confident the side will step up and perform. “They’re just a bit more experienced, well-rounded side at the moment, with guys who have played in some big games,” he said. “We’ve got to put ourselves in more positions where we’re competitive and a chance to compete against these guys. “It’s the only way you learn, and by watching them go about it. “It’s another good challenge for the young group, and we’ll see what happens Saturday.” The City Colts take on Rovers United Bruck at WJ Findlay Oval on Saturday from 12.30pm. In other matches, Wangaratta Magpies host Yarrawonga Mulwala, and Ovens Valley United are on the road to Benalla Bushrangers.
