Horsham shield heading to coast

A COOL, soft-serve ice-creamcelebrated a sweet victory for Warrnambool Blue in the Horsham Under 15 Colts Country Week.The visiting side beat the host team by four wickets, capping off a stellar week. Blue only dropped one game for the competition and that was by just one run.Warrnambool won the toss and sent Horsham in. On a dry track it was quick to limit the opposition, which was 2-14 after five overs.Horsham then propelled itself with a strong partnership for the third wicket, reaching 3/103 .But the strong partnership was shattered when Jackson Chatfield took the catch of the match. He caught the ball on the boundary line, preventing Horsham from scoring a six and extending a productive flow of runs. Horsham posted 130 off its 25 overs.Leading wicket takers for Warrnambool were Joe McIvor (2/11), Jackson Chatfield (2/6) and Jayvan Houston (2/17). Warrnambool coach John Houston said his side batted with confidence in the run chase, responding with 6/136. Leading run makers were Jayvan Houston (61), Ben Threlfall (16), Bernie Dooley (16) and Jackson Chatfield (12).Houston was thrilled to take home the shield, which Warrnambool's Gold side won last year."I'm very proud of them, they looked after themselves all week," he said. "We have just been to Maccas and KFC for some soft serves and we'll celebrate with those on the way home."While it took out the championship last year, success failed to come to Warrnambool gold throughout the week.It fell to Portland by 75 runs on the final days of competition. Despite having a winless run in Horsham, coach Andrew Thomson said it was a great experience for his side.