Stanthorpe's loss in Mitchell Shield
CRICKET: Jordan Lanza was again among the strongest forces as Stanthorpe went down by 91 runs to Lockyer in the Mitchell Shield final at Gatton on Sunday.
Batting first, Lockyer made 223 off their 50 overs.
Duane Lihou took 3-39 off eight overs and Andrew Einam impressed with 1-30 off eight overs.
Stanthorpe was bowled out in the 38th over for 132, with Lanza hitting 36 and Ben Staley 35.
Staley, Stanthorpe's Mitchell Shield captain, said the Lockyer bowling won the game for the home side.
"They gave us nothing to hit,” Staley said.
"We did try our guts out but it wasn't our best cricket.
"Our main strength has been our bowling the last few years and we probably didn't bowl as well as we should have.”
Meanwhile, he said Lockyer offered tough competition.
"They just bowled really well, really tight,” he said.
Andrew Einam was Stanthorpe's strongest bowler on the day, while Jordan Lanza and Staley put on a strong effort with the bat, with 36 and 35 runs respectively.
Stanthorpe finished the fixture season with two wins from three games to qualify for the final.
Staley said he was still pleased to have made it to the finals yet again.
But he said it was a sore disappointment for Stanthorpe's representative team, which had its heart set on yet another Mitchell win.
"We were pretty disappointed to lose,” he said.
Stanthorpe has made the past three finals against Lockyer won last year, but were unable to defeat their rivals again.
