After the matches a club Christmas party was enjoyed at the Commercial Hotel Milton for players and sponsors.

Play will resume for all four grades on January 10.

NOWRA scraped home with a tight victory over Ulladulla at Ulladulla Sports Park on Saturday to see them take the points in their round nine match of SDCA first grade.

Heading into the final round of matches before the Christmas break, both teams had plenty to play with Nowra looking to further push into the top four and Ulladulla searching for a win to keep in touch with the top four teams.

However, it was Nowra who came out on top in a game that went right down to the wire, winning by one wicket and ensuring a strong finish to the year.

The home side won the toss and elected to bat first, with Aaron Wester and Jarryd Ingold getting Ulladulla off to a sound start.

Ingold was the first to go for 17 with the score on 29, before Bradley Field and Harley Bell followed not long after.

Wester hit two boundaries before he was out for 29, caught by Justin Weller off the bowling of Coulter, before Wes Holmes began to mount a comeback for his side.

Holmes hit three boundaries and a six in 28 before he was bowled by Michael Coulter who picked up another key wicket.

Three wickets fell without the home side adding to the total, with Ulladulla slumping to 7/87.

Matt Ringland played a handy role for his side in the lower order, hitting three boundaries in 24 to add some valuable runs to the total. However it wasn’t enough to see Ulladulla through to the end of the innings, as they were bowled out for 129 in 41 overs. Coulter finished the best of the Nowra bowlers, picking up 4/27 from his nine overs. In reply, despite a number of players getting starts, none of the Nowra players went on to lead their team in the run chase with Ben Lahene being the top scorer on 24.

A number of Nowra players chipped in with valuable runs but the constant flow of wickets made strong partnerships hard to come by.

Chasing 130 for victory, Nowra looked set to reach the total with ease at 5/99, but a collapse of wickets saw them also lose three batsman without a run being added to the total, slumping to 8/109.

When Kurt Regan was out for two and the score at 9/116, the result looked like it could go either way.

However, with 11 overs still remaining in the innings, Sam Watts batted sensibly along side Alex Legge to see Nowra through and take the points. Ulladulla spinners Wester and Nathan Bell both finished with three wickets apiece.

AT the Nowra Showground, Nowra spinner Joel Lahene stole the show, claiming 7/17 to help his side to a comfortable 105 run win over Ulladulla.

Winning the toss and batting first, Nowra posted 168 in their 40 overs. Nick Goodger hit three boundaries and a six in 37 while Craig Larsen added 33. The total proved too much for the visitors as they were bundled out for 63 in only 23.4 overs, largely thanks to Lahene’s dominant bowling performance.

AT Lighthouse Oval it was Ulladulla who took the points against Nowra on Saturday after the home side’s big first innings total was enough to secure the win.

Batting first, Ulladulla posted 9/213 in their 40 overs with a number of batsmen contributing to the total.

Adam Sargood top scored for the home side with 49, which included six boundaries and one six, while Stephen Donohue (36) and Andrew Eggins (35) provided support.

In reply, Nowra came out of the blocks firing with opening batsman Jordan Pearson and Raymond Moore combining to post 91 for the first wicket. However, it was downhill from there for Nowra, after Pearson was dismissed for 44, Moore went for 41 and the Nowra middle order failed to continue the good work. Nowra lost 5/4 to be all out for 149 in the 34th over.

Rocky Lavalle, Stephen Donohue and Anatole Taylor each shared two wickets.