A Place to Call Home.
The move to the leisure park has seen the club move from strength to strength over the past few years recording some epic victories especially 1st grade against Diggers two years ago rolling them in a semi-final for 15 and most recently beating them in the 2009-2010 grand final.
Coffs Colts Club History
The history of the Coffs Colts has seen a club that has developed a strong passionate presence in the Coffs coasts region. Always striving and changing with the times to find a competitive edge in this cricket competition.
The Coffs colts as we are known today originated as the Plantation colts formed in the late 60s and only fielding a couple of lower grade sides. In those early years of the clubs history it was evident of our determination and competitiveness. In the 1972-73 season the plantation colts made their first appearance in a 1st grade grand final. Unfortunately colts went down to a strong Bucca side that scored 210, colts chasing scored 174 falling 36 runs short. A strong all round performance from Ross Haworth with figures of 54 with the bat and 5-48 with the ball secured a tight win for the Bucca side.
Almost 15 years past before the plantation colts appeared in the grand final ring again. After a strong season colts finished on top claiming the 1987-88 minor premiers and that’s where they stayed with rain washing out the grand final colts had won their first 1st grade premiership. The following 1988-89 season saw an equally strong performance by the colts again finishing minor premiers and unbelievably the grand final was washed out for the second year in a row. To the delight of the club we had won back to back premierships. (As we all understand it is imperative to go into finals on top because in this area of the mid north coast rain is a certainty when it comes to cricket.)
Five years later in the1993-94 season the Plantation colts returned to the grand final scene. They came up against a strong Sawtell side that rolled the colts for 153 in reply Sawtell passed the score with 6 wickets in hand finishing 4-163. Man of the match, Sawtell’s Peter Ebert stared with the ball snaring 5-50.
A decade past and the club saw two name changes as we looked to rebuild after a number of retirements and players leaving town. The club changed its name to the Coffs city colts and played the 1995-96 and the 1996-97 season with our club house at Advocate Park.
The following season 1997-98 the club moved over to become known as the Greenhouse Colts. In 2003-04 the Greenhouse colts took to the field in the clubs fifth grand final birth, after a strong undefeated season claiming minor premiers the Colts took on Nana Glen in the grand final. Nana Glen made 175 and the colts stumbled 32 runs short scoring 143 although having Nana Glen 5-60 in their second dig the grand final slipped through a deserving colt fingers. Man of the match Trent Jones scoring 33 down the order and taking a match winning 6-44 to clinch victory for Nana Glen.
After a five year dominance of Sawtell the Colts finally had another chance to redeem the heart ach of 2003-04.The 2009-10 grand final was to be decided between arch rivals Coffs Colts and Diggers held at the leisure park No.1 ground.
Diggers had advanced into the final on the back of wet weather, which also saw the exit of Sawtell who place 4th. Colts took the tough road to Dorrigo to force their way into the final. It took some outstanding performances to get us there including 100 from veteran all star Craig Haworth and a 7 wicket haul from cricketer of the year Daryl Parmenter.
Diggers batted first and looked under done due to not playing cricket for a month and were rolled for 145. A key turning point was a clinical run out started with a great chase an throw from Andrew Firth and quick hand from classy keeper Matt Rose to break a crucial partnership. Colts looked to be cruising when Craig Haworth reached his 50 but a lower order collapse put immense pressure on the tail when Haworth was dismissed on 70, the last two batters needed 16 to win. Sam Hardes and Matt Francis set about finishing the deal, with Sam inspirational words “It’s not their Day” the two chipped away at the total. Hardes survived a tight LBW decision and with 4 runs to win Matt Francis stepped inside a ball that was short down leg side and smashed a boundary to bring a well deserved victory for the Coffs Colts side. The win made our tally 3 premierships from 6 appearances but more important was it became our first played out grand final win. It was also especially memorable for Captain Chris Moran who was part of the side that won the washed out grand finals in the late 80s and who retired on a high after this special victory.
