Doveton bowler Brad Downe took one wicket as his team crashed out of the finals with a loss to Parkfield on the weekend. 28071 Picture: Stewart ChambersBy Stuart Teather
THERE are no local teams left in the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s top two competitions after the two local hopes, Doveton in Turf One and HSD in Turf Two, bombed out on the weekend.
The semi-final round was played as a two-day affair on Saturday and Sunday with Springvale South and Parkfield booking tickets to the Turf-One grand final, while in Turf Two Mordialloc and Southern Pirates will fight out the decider.
Turf One
@BT Sub Sport News:Doveton v Parkfield
Parkfield booked its place in the Grand Final with a resounding win over Doveton at Robinson Reserve.
It took to the crease and flew out of the blocks on the back of a good opening stand from Ryan Pitts (50) and Brad Houghton (95).
The solid foundation allowed Parkfield to hit out and the side pushed on to record 276, setting Doveton a big task on day two.
The Doves had a positive start on Sunday through Brad Downe (40) and Ryan Pearson (22), but Shane Doig stopped the charge with a blistering four-wicket spell on his way to 4/67 off 27 overs for the day.
The Doves never recovered and collapsed – all out for 156 and Parkfield won through to its first grand final in 15 years.
Remarkably, two players in this year’s team played in the 1994 premiership when the side defeated Hallam.
Captain Dale Harris and club president Tony Payne were in the winning side and Harris said it had been a long wait.
“Payney is 39 and I’m 32, we were starting to wonder if we’d get to play in another one,” he said with a laugh.
Harris said the club was full of excitement heading into the big clash with Springvale South.
“There’s a great vibe around the club at the moment, Turf Three is in the grand final as well,” he said.
“We’re huge underdogs, there’s no doubt about that and I don’t think there’s too many punters out there tipping us.
“The best thing about us is we get an even contribution from everyone; we’ve got no stars in our side, everyone just does their bit.”
@BT Sub Sport News:Springvale South v North Dandenong
Springvale South scraped through in a thriller against North Dandenong at Alex Nelson Reserve, stealing a three-run win in the dying overs on Sunday afternoon.
Batting first, Springvale South posted 9/274 on day one with a solid effort throughout the order.
Springvale South captain Craig Slocombe (65) fired up at the crease, going to the boundary 10 times in the innings and over it once in a knock that proved pivotal in the clash.
He combined first with Lance MacDougall (17) and then Michael Davies (32) to get the runs on the board.
Set 275 for victory, North Dandenong struggled early on in reply and fell to 3/46 before Carman Mapatuna (68) steadied the ship from number-four.
He combined with Shane Leonard (47) and Adrian Baltruschaitis (68), who had his best knock for the year, batting at number-six.
With five overs to go, Baltruschaitis and captain Chris Clarke were at the crease and Clarke said the pair was on track for victory.
“We had four wickets in hand and we only needed 25, 26 runs,” he said.
“I didn’t really feel the pressure too much and we had a partnership of 40-odd.
“I was waiting for Silva to toss one up, so I could hit it through mid-wicket, which was vacant, but I didn’t quite get it and Sharp dived and took a great catch.
“From there we just fell to the pressure. It shouldn’t have been that hard, but finals things, they just happen.”
North Dandenong ended up at 9/271, four painful runs short of a place in this week’s decider.
Springvale South’s Slocombe said the win was especially pleasing, as North Dandenong knocked off the Souths in almost identical fashion in the semi-finals last season.
“They were probably in the box seat (this season), we were lucky to get away with it,” he said.
“The tables have sort of turned this year.”
Turf Two
@BT Sub Sport News:HSD v Mordialloc
HSD’s season came to a surprise end at Reedy Reserve on Sunday as fourth-placed Mordialloc belted the top side in their semi-final clash. Batting first, Mordialloc posted a reasonable 188 off 64 overs with Travis Campbell (58) and Stuart Squires (66 not-out) the standouts with the willow.
HSD’s Paul Stockdale again did the job with the ball, keeping it tight with 4/28 off 16 overs.
Stockdale scooped Mordialloc’s final four wickets for four runs to bring about a premature end to the innings, leaving HSD on top heading into day two.
But HSD lost early wickets on Sunday and never recovered, slumping to be all out for 103 off only 52 overs.
Asela Jayasinghe top-scored with 28 for the home side, but had no support from the other batsmen as Mordialloc’s Jonathan Whelan (3/29 off 16) and Travis Campbell (3/49 off 22) got the job done with the ball.
@BT Sub Sport News:Dandenong West v Southern Pirates
Dandenong West’s season is over after going down to Southern Pirates at Greaves Reserve on Saturday.
The Pirates batted first in the clash, but could only manage 136 with captain Martyn Cull (61) the standout performer.
For Dandenong West, Nathan Goodes (4/18 off 11) and Paul Hadden (3/27 off 16.1) were the standout bowlers.
Heading into day two Dandenong West appeared to be well on top, but the side collapsed with the bat, managing only 115 in a dismal outing.
Southern Pirates’ Peter Atkinson was the demolition man, picking up 7/46 off 26 stunning overs to flatten Dandenong West.
The Pirates remain on track to complete a fairytale end to the season, after the side scraped into the finals with a surprise outright victory in the final round of the regular season.
