If that clash goes to form, that will leave the other four teams vying for the remaining spots in the 1 v 4 and 2 v 3 semifinals.
“Sam has played for us since 2013 and it was great to see him make the senior Poverty Bay side this season,” said Campion player-coach Mark Naden.
“He has put a lot of time into cricket for us and been a consistent performer in the past four years.
“We’re sorry to lose him but wish him all the best for the next stage of his club and rep career.”
Naden said Year 7 student Tahran Ward was another consistent performer,
“Taz (Ward) has been working really hard on his bowling, batting and fielding over the year. He’s now one of our senior players and we are hoping he’ll be back at school next year.
“He’s always super-positive and extremely reliable — an awesome team man.”
In last weekend’s abandoned game against GBHS, Ward picked up two wickets for 25 runs off seven overs and took a superb catch to dismiss Matt McNeil (82 off 89 balls).
Naden forgot to mention his son Matthew, who will continue playing for the school until he leaves for university next year.
Naden junior is a reliable top order batsmen, opening bowler and, like Ward, a great team man.
High School Old Boys captain Scott Tallott says he has nothing but respect for Campion despite them being bottom of the table and having been on the end of some big losses.
“They are still fronting up every week and while I expect us to win, I think Campion deserve credit for playing in the senior competition.”
¦ Pirates captain Brad Reynolds said Sam Patterson would be a valuable asset to his team, who can book a spot in the semis with a win against GBHS tomorrow.
“Our win against HSOB a couple of weeks ago was a big result for us,” said Reynolds.
“No disrespect to Boys’ High or Campion, who we play next week, these are games we should win, especially as we are building a strong squad.
“Sam has filled in for us over the years and it will be good to have him on a regular basis. He’s a good line-and-length bowler and is solid with the bat.
“We’ve also got Dane Thompson back from uni for his first game of the season and when James Torrie arrives back in two weeks, we’ll have a squad capable of challenging for all the trophies.”
Pirates will not have in-form bowler Tayla Hollis, who is on duty with Northern Spirit women’s team in the national championship in Christchurch (more on that in tomorrow’s Herald).
Boys’ High coach Ben O’Brien-Leaf said Pirates would be tough.
“We’ll have to play our best cricket against them.”
¦ Horouta have the toughest run-in to the playoffs — OBR tomorrow and HSOB in the last round-robin game.
OBR have a good mix of experience and youth and are well led by skipper Jonathan Purcell, with support from senior players Ian Loffler, Craig Christophers, Jimmy Holden and Matt Cook,
Kieran Venema has been in good form with the bat while newcomer former Boys’ High player Korban Harrison-Allen has made an immediate impact with his batting, bowling and fielding.
Horouta will go in as underdogs but club captain Greg Taylor says his side will be looking to build on last night’s tied game with Boys’ High School in the Walker Shield T20 competition.
“It was a cracking game, both teams scored 137 runs,” said Taylor.
“We’ll have Keegan Martin (top-order batsman) who missed last week’s game, back, which strengthens our batting.
“Mel Knight (spinner) is unavailable but Clarry (Clarence Campbell) is available.”
