By Marc McGowan and Paul Pickering
BERWICK will play North Dandenong in the Dandenong District Cricket Association Turf One decider after the teams beat Parkfield and Springvale South respectively on the weekend.
In Turf Two, the grade’s top two teams, HSD and Hallam-Kalora Park, had little trouble disposing of Mordialloc and Springvale South.
The North Dandenong result was the only surprise, although the Bloods’ late-season form slump and North Dandenong’s impressive form had many pundits predicting the defending champion’s demise.
@BT Sub Sport News:TURF ONE
Berwick d Parkfield
Berwick will chase its second flag in three seasons after trumping Parkfield by four wickets at Arch Brown Reserve.
Captain Alex Roberts’ (85 not out) return to form and a breakout performance from 15-year-old James Wilcock (5/24) were the keys to the semi-final victory.
Parkfield batted first and a 74-run opening partnership helped it cruise to 2/96 before Wilcock was brought back into the attack with stunning success.
The talented teenager – who is being courted by Victorian Premier Cricket club St Kilda – rocked the Parkfield line-up, snaring five wickets in as many overs while conceding just four runs as the visitors slumped to 7/113.
Tony Payne (34) attempted to lift Parkfield, sharing in a 44-run union with Daniel Ferguson (16).
But when Payne was removed there was little fight left and Parkfield was dismissed for 164.
In reply, both Berwick openers and stars Gavan Wills and Ash Henry were out cheaply as the Bears fell to 4/58.
However, Roberts and Paul Evans (29) dug in and restored calm to Berwick’s innings.
Evans was out on 112, but the Bears lost only one more wicket as wicketkeeper Brad Molineux helped Roberts compile the winning runs.
Henry is looking forward to having another crack at the grand final.
“North Dandenong is a quality side and has been all year,” he said. “We’ll need a good team performance where everyone contributes.”
Roberts is expected to return to the bowling crease after a two-match absence with the ball due to a knee injury.
North Dandenong d Springvale South
North Dandenong sent Springvale South packing with a nail-biting one-wicket result at Alex Nelson Reserve.
A flat deck offered little assistance to the North Dandenong bowlers as Bloods openers Lance MacDougall (76) and Steve Masterson (21) laid the foundations for a formidable total with a half-century partnership.
Despite losing a pair of quick wickets to be 2/58, MacDougall, Slocombe (65) and Andrew Sharp (60 not out) orchestrated a series of handy partnerships to guide the Bloods to 9/289 from their allotted 90 overs.
North Dandenong received valuable service from Shane Clark (2/16), Carman Mapatuna (2/50) and Janahan Kumaralingam (2/65).
After losing David Bell for a duck, North Dandenong rallied under the guidance of playing coach Glenn Finkelde (69).
Mapatuna (102) joined Finkelde at 2/79 and the pair’s 80-run partnership took the visitors to 3/159 before Finkelde’s departure left Mapatuna to take over the innings.
But Mapatuna’s dismissal sparked a near-fatal shift in fortunes as Springvale South’s Damien Simmons (3/29) claimed three quick wickets to reduce North Dandenong to 9/288.
Ultimately, tail-ender Stuart Mack was the unlikely hero for North Dandenong, which has now won four of its past five matches, striking a famous boundary to book his team an appointment with Berwick.
Finkelde praised his batsmen for an expertly constructed chase, but conceded that the prospect of a grand final berth may have unnerved his charges.
“In the last few overs we tensed up a little bit, but I suppose that’s to be expected,” he said. “We were always confident that we had the guys down the order to get the job done, but we just didn’t think we’d have to rely on them that much.”
@BT Sub Sport News:TURF TWO
HSD d Mordialloc
A sensational display from 23-year-old leg-spinner Paul Stockdale has given HSD another chance at promotion to Turf One.
The unbeaten ladder leader crunched Mordialloc by six wickets at Reedy Reserve.
HSD received a complete team effort, but Stockdale stole the show with match figures of 10/69, including a hat-trick in the Bloodhounds’ second innings.
Mordialloc was well served by opener Tony Richardson (61), but he had no support, with the next-highest scorer making just 14 as the Bloodhounds were all out for 104.
That total was never going to be enough to trouble the brutal HSD line-up.
Trevor Davies (58) led several solid contributions at the top of the order to see his team home.
Mordialloc’s Niranjan Kumar (5/21) tried valiantly, but his performance was not enough.
While capturing a Turf One spot will be HSD’s primary goal on the weekend, it will also look to shed an unwanted reputation, according to coach Andrew Stockdale.
“Because of previous years when we’ve got to the finals and got beaten, a lot of DDCA people think we are chokers and that we’ll never go any further,” he said.
“I reckon we’re the underdogs. Hallam will be favourites with their batting.
“We just have to put in an all-round effort to beat them with the bat and ball, and our fielding – all aspects.”
And Stockdale revealed that his son’s hat-trick celebrations were short lived.
“His words to me were, ‘I don’t care about the hat-trick; I want the Turf Two flag’,” he said.
Hallam-Kalora Park d Springvale South
‘Relief’ was Hallam-Kalora Park captain-coach Cory Booth’s description at his side’s eight-wicket spanking of Springvale South at Greaves Reserve.
But there was never any doubt about the result after an inspired bowling performance from Lee Brown (4/22) and Mark Houeix (3/17) triggered a stunning batting collapse.
The Bloods looked well set at 2/74 before Brown’s first scalp resulted in Springvale South losing its last eight wickets for just 41 runs to be all out for 115.
Steve Chapman was dismissed early on, but Booth and brother and former Frankston-Peninsula player Leigh (100 not out) took the score to 74.
Cory Booth was out on that tally, but John Hammond (27 not out) wasted no time snapping up the remaining runs before he and Leigh Booth put in some batting practice.
The game came to a merciless end with Hallam-Kalora Park at a commanding 2/163.
Cory Booth believes his squad’s batting will give it the edge over HSD in the grand final.
“I think our batting is a lot stronger than theirs and we have a lot more depth – it’s been our strength all year,” he said.
“Both sides have the same sorts of bowlers, medium-pace bowlers, and both have got a good spinner, but I’m hoping our batting will get us over the line.
“It will be interesting to see if we put them under enough pressure whether they will play their natural game and come out all guns blazing.”
