An incredible Saturday afternoon of McIntyre 1sts cricket saw reigning premier Romsey score a massive 5/462 to leapfrog Gisborne into top spot going into the knockout semi-finals.
Opener Matt Milne batted all day for a chanceless 202, and skipper Ben Way made a typical quick-fire 141.
At the same time, Gisborne scored 9/373 at Gilbert Gordon Oval to easily dispose of Woodend, with Riley Vernon 148 and Jarryd Vernon 104 continuing their superb form – but the Redbacks edged out the Dragons by 0.6 points after bonus points were tallied.
The wash-up means Romsey is at home this Saturday and Sunday to fourth-placed Sunbury Kangaroos, and Gisborne will welcome last season’s grand finalists Sunbury United to Gardiner Reserve.
Both Romsey and Gisborne have gone through the home and away season unbeaten, and are logical favourites to reach the grand final. But strange things can happen in cricket!
“We think we have got the bowlers to do the job against the Kangaroos, who have certainly improved with the bat in the latter part of the season,” Way said.
He said Milne has been a gradual improver over a period of time with the bat, and the double century was a great performance leading into the finals.
“He took about 180 balls to reach his century, and his second hundred came up at a run a ball rate.”
Way said the Redbacks had been closely monitoring what was taking place in the Woodend v Gisborne encounter, and knew acceleration in scoring against Diggers Rest/Bulla would give them a great chance of grabbing top position.
And so it proved.
The Dragons are understandably confident they have the depth and overall ability, plus the Vernon brothers’ brilliance, to more than match United in the semi-final.
Opener Riley Vernon’s 148 came from just 98 balls. It took him a record breaking tally beyond 1000 for the season,
From 1/200 at the tea break, quick wickets fell with Woodend coach Greg Matthews making inroads.
Jarryd Vernon’s dominant 104 kept the scoreboard ticking over and the Dragons reached 9/383 at stumps – Matthews 4-53 and Marcus Stewart 3-24 were the key wicket-takers, with Warren Else helping to curtail scoring during his 20 overs.
Woodend finished fifth, and must still be rueing the late innings collapse that threw away the match against Sunbury United.
United had to battle hard to hold off Sunbury Kangaroos on Saturday, with 510 runs scored in the match and third-placed United scrambling home by 13 runs.
In the remaining match, Macedon won a match dominated by bowlers with two wickets to score.
ATKIN SCORES 147
Keirin Atkin, the most feared batter in Johnstone 1sts, hit a typically flamboyant 147 to carry Wallan to a semi-final tally of 7/368 c.c. from 75 overs. Aintree could only manage 151 in reply.
In the other semi-final, Broadford’s 8/311 c.c. proved too much for Kilmore to seriously challenge.
Romsey scored an easy semi-final win over Macedon in a McIntyre 2nds semi-final, and now face up to Sunbury United in the grand final.
Gurbeer Singh’s unbeaten 101 carried Aintree into the Johnstone 2nds grand final against Rupertswood.
Trentham missed out by an agonising four runs in the Jensen 3rds grand final against Melton South.
Hanging Rock had good reason to celebrate after beating Malmsbury Green in the Club North grand final. See details in next week’s Express.
Woodend won the Club South premiership as the result of St Anthonys being disqualified.
Final positions
Final positions of McIntyre 1sts teams in the Gisborne District Cricket Association were:
Romsey – 109.1 points.
Gisborne – 108.5.
Sun United – 76.3.
Sun Kangaroos – 67.3.
Woodend – 63.4.
Macedon – 47.4.
Rupertswood – 41.5.
Diggers Rest/Bulla – 23.4.
GDCA scores
Results from Gisborne District Cricket Association matches completed at the weekend were:
McIntyre 1sts (Final home and away round): Woodend 9/268 c.c. lost to Gisborne 9/383 (R. Vernon 148, J.Vernon 104, M. Barake 43, L. Brennan 29 – G. Matthews 4-53, M.Stewart 3-35); Rupertswood 134 lost to Macedon 8/141 (A . Grobler 42, Cameron Howlett 38 n.o. – N.Crotty 5-28, K.Corcoran 3-53); Diggers Rest 222 lost to Romsey 5/462 (M. Milne 202 n.o., B. Way 141, J. Richardson 42); Sunbury United 9/266 c.c. d Sunbury Kangaroos 244 (J. King 86, M. Fox 33, C. Woolley 30, D. Caruana 28 – A. Hannah 4-21,S. Perera 3-82).
Johnstone 1sts semi-finals: Broadford 8/311 c.c. (J. Ingham 89, G. Sharp 75, A. Wood 73, B. Hickey 28 – B. Buttler 5-82) d Kilmore 191 (J. Wltpn 97, L. Zeyvys 52 – T. Shell 3-23, B. Fleming 3-25); Wallan 7/368 c.c. (K. Atkin 147, B.Vance 65, T. Keenan 57 n.o., M. Clayton – M. Bdesha 3-43) d Aintree 157 (J. Singh 66, H. Singh 37 n.o. – S. O’Donnell 5-34).
McIntyre 2nds semi-finals: Sunbury United 8/292 c.c. (H. Knott 62, C. Strods 53, A. Billinghurst 51, J. Bottomley 40, D. Falzon 34 – W. Honner 3-44) d Rupertswood 177 (. Sutherland 87, R. Bennett 25 – H. Knott 3-29, C. Boyes 3-34, J. Hughes 3-34); Macedon 146(I. Bobetic 47, M. Wall 21 – J. East 5-25, D. Jewell 3-24) lost to Romsey 3/150 (M. Richardson 62, J. Rees 41).
Johnstone 2nds semi-finals: Broadford 9/236 c.c. (J. Martin 58, L. Withers 47, J. Nicholas 46 – P. Brar 4-32) lost to Aintree 5/239 (G. Singh 101 n.o., C. Kalsi 83; Rupertswood 7/256 c.c. (L. McLean 58, A. Pizaro 44, S. Adam 38 n.o., J. Hayward 35, R. Turner 32 M.Kilbane 5-62) d Wallan 243 (K. Ratnayate 105, B. Hanson 32 – Pizaro 4-81, McLean 3-28)
Jensen Shield 1sts Grand Final: Aintree 7/255 c.c.(N. Singh 79, G. Sohal 65, K. Sandhu 25 n.o. – J. Singh 3-45) d St Anthonys 114 (G. Grewal 59 n.o., Z.Gib lett 19 – R. Smagh 3-24, L. Sandhu 3-28).
Jensen 2nds Grand Final: Sunbury 166 (A. Riggio 52 – A. Morrison 3-29, N. Bond 3-38) lost to Rupertswood 4/168 (T.Hayes 97, J. Vij 28 n.o.).
Jensen 3rds Grand Final: Melton South 153 (K. Rajendran 35 – A. Thorneycroft 3-15, A. Prewett 3-19) d Trentham 9/149 (H. Fitzpatrick 34, I. Jennings 28 – M. Garwood 3-11, G. Miller 3-18).
Club North Grand Final: Hanging Rock 9/162 c.c. (N. Maxwell 37, M. Fisher 35) d Malmsbury Green 83 (T.May 27).
Club Grade South Grand Final: St Anthonys – disqualified – lost to to Woodend.
