Woodend’s hopes of making the McIntyre Cup finals hung by a thread after the loss of four quick wickets on Saturday.
Then the cool, calm and collected duo of Warren Else and Dan Eastley shared a record seventh-wicket stand of 171 runs at Gilbert Gordon Oval.
Their heroics with the bat enabled Woodend to recover from a shaky 6/90 to make 367 in reply to bottom side Diggers Rest/Bulla’s 159.
All-rounder Else finished unbeaten on 144 (18 fours, one six) and top-order bat Eastley contributed a chanceless 104, his first McIntyre Cup century and fourth overall.
Both are club stalwarts for the Woodsmen, with 38-year-old Else having played well over 300 games, and 36-year-old Eastley giving great service despite contemplating retirement a couple of times.
Else, a fine all-round sportsman, thinks he has made “16 or 17 hundreds” from junior ranks up, including in England.
Woodend resumed at 2/77. The pair knuckled down after paceman David Rodger dismissed captain Marcus Stewart for 26, and Andrew Cullen and Hayden Ingleton for ‘ducks’ to make it 5/80. Ten runs later McDonald was also out.
Else put away his normal attacking game for some considerable time, later saying he had full confidence in Eastley staying there.
Captain Stewart was full of praise for the pair: “They did a tremendous job.”
The victory leaves Woodend in fifth place on the ladder, just behind fourth-placed Sunbury Kangaroos.
So the two final rounds are vital. Woodend play at Macedon on Saturday, and in the final round face up to a powerful Gisborne combination. The Kangaroos go to Gisborne, then face up to third-placed Sunbury United.
Bonus points could well be vital and Woodend’s first challenge is to defeat Macedon.
ROMSEY ON TOP
After Saturday, Romsey edged ahead of Gisborne by 2.1 points on the ladder with both sides still unbeaten.
Romsey’s mammoth 9/444 c.c. (Ben Way 141) proved to be well beyond Rupertswood’s reach.
Two run outs and two wickets to Aaron Paterson raised hopes of an outright bid, but Rupertswood captain Nathan Shoesmith made 83 and his side compiled 191 from 52.5 overs.
The Redbacks now face up to Sunbury United on Saturday in a test for both sides.
Macedon’s openers were both dismissed for ‘ducks’ facing Kangaroos’ imposing 8/351 c.c.
Captain Daniel Trotta made 38 and the latter order offer some resistance before the last wicket fell at 140 from 70.5 overs.
BOBETIC SCORES 153
The highest individual score in the round came from Macedon’s Ivan Bobetic (pictured) in the McIntyre 2nds match against Sunbury Kangaroos.
Bobetic hit 18 fours as Macedon compiled 262, 43 behind their opposition.
In addition to the centuries by Else and Eastley, Gisborne skipper Jarryd Vernon scored an unbeaten 103 to carry his side to victory against United, Maksudar Rahman made 112 not out for Melton Centrals in Jensen 2nds, Kavindu Ratnayaka finished unbeaten on 100 for Wallan in Johnstone 2nds, and Kilmore’s Tim Hanson was 101 retired for Kilmore in Club North.
LADDERS
Current positions of teams in the top grades in the Gisborne District Cricket Association include:
Mcintyre Cup 1sts: Romsey 86.4, Gisborne 84.4, Sunbury United 61.7, Sunbury Kangaroos 55.5, Woodend 48.6, Macedon 34.5, Rupertswood 28.4, Diggers Rest/Bulla 16.3.
Johnstone Shield 1sts: Aintree 63.7, Wallan 62, East Sunbury 58.2, Broadford 58.0, Kilmore 44.4, Eynesbury 39.4, Riddell 2.5.
McIntyre 2nds: Rupertswood 63, Romsey 58, Macedon 45, Sunbury United 42, Gisborne 36, Woodend 30, Sunbury Kangaroos 21, Diggers Rest/Bulla 21.
Johnstone 2nds: Aintree 69,Wallan 51, Rupertswood 45, East Sunbury, Broadford 33, Eynesbury 21, Riddell 21.
Vernons brothers on show
The Vernon brothers continue to churn out runs for Gisborne, posing a challenge to all the bowlers trying to dismiss them in McIntyre Cup cricket.
Captain Jarryd Vernon scored an unbeaten 103 (10 fours) from 134 balls to get his side over the line against Sunbury United on Saturday.
Earlier, opener Riley Vernon compiled 96 (10 fours) 117 balls, sharing a partnership of 115 with Warren Kelly for the first wicket.
Gisborne was chasing Sunbury United healthy 7/303 c.c. and reached the target with four overs to spare, finishing on 6/306.
Leigh Brennan made 36 after Gisborne had reached 4/205, and with Jarryd, carried the Dragons to the brink of yet another victory.
This season Riley is the leading McIntyre Cup run scorer, with 719 runs at an average of 79.89.
Gisborne will be back at Gardiner Reserve this Saturday, taking on fourth-placed Sunbury Kangaroos.
GDCA scores
Results from matches played in the Gisborne District Cricket Association competitions on Saturday included:
McIntyre Cup 1sts: Sunbury United 7/303 c.c. lost to Gisborne 6/206 (J. Vernon 103 n.o., R. Vernon 96, W. Kelly 45, L. Brennan 36 – S. Perura 3-54); Sunbury Kangaroos 8/351 c.c. and 4-25 dec. d Macedon 140 (D. Trotta 38) and 0-14; Diggers Rest/Bulla 159 lost to Woodend 367 (W. Else 144 n.o., D. Eastley 104, J. Pettigrew 35 – D. Rodger 6-74); Romsey 9/444 dec. and 5/114 (C. Day 30, C. Burkett 28 n.o., J. Richardson 27) d Rupertswood 191 (N. Shoesmith 83, M. Howell 41).
Johnstone Shield 1sts: Wallan 146 (M. Clayton 34, C. Veechie 30 – L. Wilkins 5-35) lost to East Sunbury 173; Broadford 220 d Kilmore 207 (K. Craddock 96, L. Zeleys 28 – T. Shell 5-45); Aintree 364 and 8/104 d Riddell 128 (L. McNair 31, H. Fisher 30 – H. Singh 5-24, M. Hussain 4-25).
McIntyre 2nds: Sunbury United 8/339 c.c. d Gisborne 122 (A. Shore 39 – P. Allen 3-21); Sunbury Kangaroos 8/305 c.c. d Macedon 262 (I. Bobetic 153, H. Pender 50 – B. Fleming 3-39); Diggers Rest/Bulla 188 lost to Woodend 3/192 (F. Hanegraaf 67 n.o., B. Gardner 54); Romsey 6/322 c.c.d Rupertswood 202 (J. Lane 49, B. van den Heuval 36).
Johnstone 2nds: Aintree 3/395 c.c. d Riddell 46 (A, Sansha 3-9, Venkatesh 3-10); Eynesbury 110 and 3/75 lost to Rupertswood 5/248 dec. (R. Turner 65, L. McLean 44); East Sunbury 217 lost to Wallan 7/226 (Ravindu Ratnayake 100 n.o., H. Sandhu 39); Kilmore 189 v Broadford (CHECK).
Jensen 1sts: Melton South 8/176 c.c. (A. Yates 65) d Aintree (T. Sandhu 49, K. Sandhu 42); St Anthonys 234 (Z. Gilbert 48, B. Singh 44, J. Singh 40, S. Singh 39) – M. O’Dwyer 4-41) d Sunbury United 7/132 (O’Dwyer 32); Romsey 9/177 c.c. (D. Wright 33 – M.Cox 5-34) d Malmsbury 9/143 (Cox 27, J. Braszell 23 – J. Day 3-22); Lancefield 186 (N. Malone 50, Harrison Lehner 35 – S. Fuller 3-30) d Hanging Rock 82 (Fuller 34 – Harvey Lehner 5-10, J. O’Meara 3-14).
Jensen 2nds: Wallan 110 lost to Macedon 6/111 (D. Taverna 51 – H. Jackson 3-23); Gisborne 132 (P. Gray 57 –T. Hayes 4-13) lost to Rupertswood 6/133; Melton Centrals 9/245 c.c. (M. Rahman 100 n.o., M. Khalid 42, A. Singh 32 –B. Bovell 4-18, M. Sherpa 3-37) d Blackwood 8/205 (B. Whitehouse 47, B. Mennica 38 n.o., Sherpa 35 – A. Kakani 5-22); Diggers Rest/Bulla 137 (J. Allen 5-15) lost to Sunbury 2/144 (N. Mora 57 n.o., S. Osborne 43).
Jensen 3rds: Rupertswood 8/187 c.c. (S. Silva 45, M. Bordon 41, M. Howell 32) d Lancefield 7/163 (D. Mallia-Hogan 50 n.o., N. Johnson 40 – L. Curran 3-44; Aintree 7/240 c.c.(V. Susana 65, K. Gajula 54, S. Gajula 44) lost to Melton South 4/244 (D. Shelley 59, G. Sadhi 58 n.o.); Trentham 6/194 c.c. (G.Thomson 79, ZH. Forgo 64) d Kyneton 8/151; Kilmore v Melton no scores.
Club North: Malmsbury Green 3/128 c.c. (G. Nelson 55 n.o., J. Murphy 37) lost to Broadford 3/136 (M. Mirabella 69 n.o., A. Althum 44); Wallan 8/95 c.c. lost the Malmsbury Gold 1/96 (H. Taultas 51 n.o., J. Mooney 36 n.o.); Hanging Rock 9/204 c.c. (J. Milsom 54, P. Connor 36) d Woodend 4/158; Riddell 6/265 c.c. (B. O’Mara 92, J. Inglis 68, J. Boland 38 n.o.) lost to Kilmore 4/267 (Tim Hanson 101 n.o., G. Fairweather 90; Gisborne v Lancefield – no scores.
Club South: Woodend 9/191 c.c. (J. Fiford 45, P. Bosanko 36 n.o., Extras 30) d Melton Centrals White 7/182 (T. Taneja 45); Sunbury United 9/121 c.c. (M. Anderson 40 – L. Patterson 3-7) lost to Eynesbury 3/124 (J. Siedlieki 54 n.o.); St Anthonys 246 (J. Hassan 53, H. Raza 41) d Rupertswood Snr Mixed 8/115 (G. Smajila 32); Melton Centrals Red 9/287 c.c. (G. Blackwell 78, M. Murphy 57 – A. Kirk 4-51 d Sunbury 9/153 (N. Davies 42 – ‘Fill-in’ 5-8).
