Sideline Sid - Sports blogger Sideline Sid is a local sport fanatic. Not only is he a classic rugby bloke but he has views, opinions and knowledge on all sports played in the Bay of Plenty.

This week Sidline Sid reports on the end of the cricket season - and looks into the crystal ball to pick the winners in the rugby comps.
Mount Maunganui grabbed the last two pieces of Bay of Plenty Cricket silverware last weekend when they smashed Greerton at Pemberton Park.

Going into the last round of the BOP Cup, they needed to win to pick-up back-to-back titles. From the first ball, the Mount went on the attack and blasted an amazing 326, which was better than a run every ball.
Bay rep Peter Drysdale was in devastating form with Fraser Street under siege, as he smashed a blazing 159 runs. Chasing a big total, Greerton never got into the contest and was rolled for 173.
The Mount victory not only won them the BOP Cup, but also clinched the Hart Family Trophy, which is awarded to the team with the most points from the Williams Cup and BOP Cup Baywide competitions combined.
Last Sunday the local grade cricket competitions were wrapped up with the grand finals of the Western BOP Reserve and B Grade championships.

In the Reserve Grade, Papamoa came from the fourth qualifying spot to win the silverware.
They defeated Tauranga Boys' College in a game that went down to the wire. The Tauranga Boys' youngsters came of age in the championship round. After finishing second last in the pre-Christmas competition, they stormed into championship semi-finals winning their last four games.
In the B Grade final stanza, Grasshoppers finally won the silverware, after going close (without success) in recent seasons. To make the win even sweeter they lowered the colours of defending champions Mount Maunganui to lift aloft the championship trophy.

Results in the Baywide Premier Rugby first round, played out in summer-like conditions last Saturday, showed that there is likely to be a real fight to lift aloft the trophy on the first Saturday in August.
Tauranga Sports, who created history last season winning three successive Baywide titles, laid down the gauntlet to the challengers on the opening day. In a replay of last year's final they again defeated archrivals Te Puke Sports winning 21-17.
Rangataua, who have looked genuine top four contenders in the past couple of seasons, came with two points of upsetting Rotorua heavyweight Whakarewarewa, going down 17-16.
While Te Puna had a good battle with Rotoiti before tasting a narrow 31-27 defeat - they showed enough to suggest that they could be the smokey in this year's title race. With two full rounds of play, there is likely to be a battle of attrition to grab a semi-final spot.
Never write off the Mount is always the message from Mount Maunganui. The 2005 Baywide champions returned home with a 25-all draw against Opotiki on the opening day of the season.
In Division One, Rangiuru could not have impressed more, when they blitzed former Premier contenders Kahukura 50-16 in the Sulphur City. With Bob Moorhead again in charge of coaching the side, they have promotion to the top echelon next season firmly in their sights
There will also be plenty of action in the local Western Bay senior competition, where Judea, Eastern Districts, Matakana Island, Katikati, and Papamoa chase promotion to Baywide Division One.

Seeya at the Game.