BULLS NATIONAL JOURNEY ENDS WITH DEFEAT TO WOODLANDS. Sun 21June 2026: National Club Championship Regional Final

21st Jun 2026

Woodlands 230-ao (39.1o) Matt Weston 56, Mosun Hussain 68, Brad Schmulian 15, Tim Jackson 21, Moh Bilal 17, Noah Priestley 26: Jonny Wightman 1-63, Calum Fletcher 2-24, Oli McGee 1-58, George Drissell 4-39, Nicky Phillips 2-42.

SNCC 114ao (29.5o) Adam Cragg 42, David Edwards 29, Nathan Gough 15: Noah Priestley 3-36, Moh Bilal 1-5, Henry Pearson 0-25, Brad Schmulian 4-26, Elliott Richardson 2-17.

Woodlands won by 116 runs, advance to round 4.

Perhaps the high of the tremendous win over Burnmoor the previous day left the Bulls a little short of energy. Perhaps they faced a very good side who batted, bowled & fielded better on the day. Perhaps the luck you sometimes need to succeed does not go your way.

Whatever, Woodlands won the toss, batted & were 114 without loss at half way. For the Bulls to bounce back & take all ten wickets in the second twenty overs was a very good effort. But losing 4 wickets for 18 at the start of the chase left them with a mountain to climb, & although Adam & David put together a partnership of 70 for the 5^th wicket, in trying to accelerate both lost their wickets & at 104-7 the writing was clearly on the wall. The end came after 30 overs as Schmulian took his 4^th wicket, Cal missing a sweep to be lbw. A first reverse in all competitions for the Bulls in the 2026 season.

From the 4^th ball of the first over an impassioned appeal for a Weston (lh) glance & subsequent diving leg side catch by w/k Rob off Jonny Wightman was turned down. In Calum's first over standing up, a Hussain edge defeated George's dive to his left at first slip. Fine margins.

That said both openers Weston & Hussain consistently found angles, gaps & punished the bad ball, 49 after 10 overs, Cal's 5 overs going for only 9. Oli, George & later Nicky bowled overs 9-20. Hussain got to 50* in the 16th. One ball later w/k Rob could not hold the edge off George.

Drinks were taken at 114 -0 after 20 overs. The fightback began in Nicky's second over when Weston (56) playing forward was bowled. In the next over Hussain (68) lofted Jonny Wightman to George at mid wicket, 128-2. Schmulian & Jackson were busy & the total had reached 164 in the 29th when Cal, now from the Grove end, was cut hard by Schmulian only to see Sol, just behind point, take a stunning left-handed catch at ground level !! 

Two overs later Hewi dived to his left at mid wicket to catch Jackson (21) off Oli. In George's next over wickets from the first & third balls as Pearson (1) was lbw & Bilal (17) bowled playing back, 185-6.

The next 7 overs yielded 46 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. At 212 E Richardson (6) was bowled by Nicky playing back. One over later George caught & bowled S Richardson (4). The left handed Priestley (26) had been positive but he fell at 227 stumped by Rob off a Drissell off side wide.

In the last over skipper Garner (2) was lbw to Calum, who finished with the most creditable figures of 8-2-24-2. Jonny & Oli suffered, Nicky bowled nicely 8-0-34-2 & George 8-0-39-4. 239, it could have been a lot more.

In reply Hewi & Sol faced the right arm seam of Priestley (Grove) & left arm of Bilal (Park). A wicket first ball as Hewi (0) forward, lost his off stump to Priestley. A Bilal maiden then in over 3 George (4) inside edged to w/k Kaye off Priestley, 8-2. Rob Peyton (5) rather wafted at a wider one from Bilal to give w/k Kaye another catch, 17-3. In the next Sol (5) perhaps playing slightly too soon, lofted to mid off, 18-4. Another Bilal maiden followed. The Bulls in a hole !

A spirited partnership of 70 between Adam & David ensued as change bowlers Pearson (ob) & then Schmulian (ob) took up the attack. Priestley bowled out 8-0-36-3 an excellent spell backed up by Bilal 5-2-5-1 putting the visitors on top. 81-4 at drinks after 20 overs provided a glimmer of hope.

Elliott Ricjardson, brisk right arm, began a spell from the Grove end & Schmulian switched to the Park end. Targeting the shorter boundary Adam (42,53b, 5x4,1x6). did not quite get the elevation & was caught at deep mid wicket. Two balls later Oli (0) edged Schmulian to first slip, 88-6.

Nathan hit singles & in company with David Edwards lifted the total to 104 in the 27^th when David (29, 53b 3x4) seeking to target the Moor Road boundary, was also caught at deep mid wicket, 7 down. Nicky (1) suffered a painful blow to his left foot & was bowled next ball by E Richardson, 112-8.

In what turned out to be the last over Goughy (15) cut Schmulian to point & two balls later Cal (0) was lbw sweeping, leaving Wighters 2*. A cautionary tale, bouncing back important.

The first opportunity is on Friday 26 June in the NEPL T20 ¼ final v Hetton Lyons (a) from 1800, then on Sat 27th June SNCC v Benwell Hill (h) at  the half way point of the league season. We must continue !!

Duncan.