By Marcus Uhe
Casey South Melbourne is set for an extended run of finals-like cricket after missing a golden opportunity to climb into fourth place on the Victorian Premier Cricket ladder this week.
The Swans’ six-game undefeated streak came to an end against a resilient Northcote on Saturday, after failing to make the final breakthrough in a tight contest at Casey Fields.
Had they prevailed, they would have moved into fourth place, but have instead slid back to sixth, on account of Dandenong losing to Ringwood, and Camberwell defeating Essendon.
Northcote finished 9/290 after 90 overs, 38 runs shy of the target but with the crucial final wicket partnership still intact.
The home side fought back after Northcote reached 2/153, taking the next seven wickets for 131 runs.
The final wicket partnership endured the final six-and-a-half overs of play until stump was called, surviving a bouncer barrage from Nathan Lambden and the spinning varieties of the competition’s leading wicket-taker in Ruwantha Kellapotha.
Lambden took 4/92 to move into second for wickets taken while Kellapotha fought through a sore heel to bowl 31 overs, taking 2/83.
With third-placed St Kilda and reigning premiers and first-placed Carlton scheduled for the Swans’ final two contests, they have the toughest run home of any side in the competition with the carrot of a top four place still in their sights, sitting just two points behind Camberwell.
Captain, Luke Shelton is welcoming the challenge, feeling it will offer the ideal preparation for the post-season.
“I love playing these sides,” the left-arm spinner said.
“Us two and St Kilda, we’ve had some good battles with them over the last three or four years.
“We love playing the best sides, we consider ourselves a benchmark side as well.
“If we don’t play well and we lose, we finish where we finish and that’s where we deserve to finish but if we play well and win, we go into the final with probably a top four spot and a lot of momentum.
“That’s what we managed to have last year which carried us a long way.
“I think it’s a really good stepping stone heading into finals to play finals-like games leading in.”
Veteran left-arm quick Jackson Fry is nearing a return to cricket after a nagging back injury has kept him out of action since before Christmas.
He is set to be named in the Swans’ reserves this week with the intention of getting plenty of overs into the legs before finals, with Shelton not ruling the “important piece of our puzzle” out of selection discussions.
With the St Kilda assignment the first of the final two contests, the Swans will tackle Carlton in the final round for the first time since last summer’s disastrous reverse outright grand final loss from a seemingly impregnable position.
The Swans took the opportunity over the offseason to address the loss and voice any concerns before the new season begun, but the memories will last a lifetime.
Athletes will often say they remember the losses more than the wins when it comes to grand finals, with Shelton admitting that he can’t fully shake the feeling of despair that he experienced that Sunday afternoon.
“It still hurts; I think about it all the time, almost daily,” he conceded.
“Especially recently – I’ve spoken to a few people at the club over the last couple of weeks that it’s been popping into my head a bit more recently.
“I don’t think it ever leaves you but it’s definitely something that I’ll use to try and drive myself and the group moving forward.
“I don’t want anyone to shy away from the fact or get overawed by the fact that what happened to us was pretty heartbreaking.
“If we manage to get ourselves into a position where we can compete and challenge, then I think it’s going to hold us in good stead and hopefully drive us to be bigger and better.”
St Kilda comes to Casey Fields this weekend but may be without Marcus Harris and Peter Handscomb, pending their selections for Victoria’s Sheffield Side contest beginning on Saturday in Hobart.
Ashley Chandrasinghe, meanwhile, will likely feature in selection discussions for Victoria after his first innings-century against Northcote and two scores of 42 for Victoria’s second XI against South Australia last week.
