By JARROD POTTER
VICTORIAN PREMIER CRICKET – ROUND 15 (Day 2)
THE all-round efforts of Casey-South Melbourne (249) finally paid off as the Swans celebrated the upset of the season defeating finals-bound Northcote (220).
Setting a monster tally for Northcote to hunt down – minus its Bushrangers’ all-rounder Marcus Stoinis who returned to the state line-up – Casey-South Melbourne managed to hold on in the dying overs to arguably clinch its best victory in years.
Nathan Lambden (1/50) fired up straight away to send Northcote’s Zimbabwean international Solomon Mire (12) back to the sheds, while the other opener Lindsay Hassett (60) bunkered down to try and see off the worst of the Casey barrage.
Brendan Rose (4/32) also started peeling off Dragons as the right-arm seamer found the edge of Sam Harbinson (21) and the skipper Steven Taylor (31).
Outside of Hassett, Northcote’s failure to carry on after a solid start proved its downfall as 20s and 30s made it difficult to chase down 250.
The middle order dug in as the runs started drying up through Casey skipper Lachlan Sperling’s clever use of spin.
He didn’t give himself a trundle though, as Sperling went to James Seymour (1/48).
Pushing his credentials as an all-rounder, instead of just an opener, Seymour held up an end as Hassett eventually holed out looking to up the ante.
The last few wickets doggedly stuck to the crease as Jack Lalor (21) and Grant Waldron (9no) tried to keep the run-rate tickling along.
In the end, one last spell with the new ball sealed the deal as Rose and Lee Diston (2/31) – who replaced Lambden after the spearhead cramped up – slayed the Dragons and gave the Swans a morale-boosting victory.
“Since I’ve been there, it’s been one of the better wins,” Sperling said. “Just with the team effort and everyone contributed throughout both innings.
“Was a pretty tight game actually – we bowled 80 odd overs and just stuck to our guns, executed pretty well and didn’t give them too much to hit – that was probably the most pleasing thing that the bowlers put it in the right areas all day.”
Sperling praised Rose and Seymour as the tandem managed to work the Dragons out of the clash wicket by wicket.
“He (Seymour) was superb at one end and pretty much bowled through the second session and put pressure on the batsmen,” Sperling said. “As well with Brendan Rose – they were the stand outs for the day and Rosey was brilliant and charged in from ball one and got the rewards in the end.”
Moving up to 16th on the ladder from its big win, Casey will face Essendon this round and Sperling was pleased to see the side’s constant improvement reap results.
“We fought pretty hard and was great to beat a quality side like them (Northcote),” Sperling said. “We’re very happy with our efforts and gives us that belief that we’re not far off – if we keep chipping away we know we can match it with sides in the top half.”
Narrow Casey success was sadly mirrored for Dandenong as its Premier Cricket race is just about run and done for 2015/’16.
Dandenong’s (157 and 1/54) hopes of making the Men’s competition final eight took a huge blow on Saturday with its narrow first-innings loss to Melbourne Uni (224)
At 8/128, the match remained in the balance as Dandenong’s spearheads Justin Butterfield (3/43) and Adam McMaster (2/61) seared through the top order.
With Peter Cassidy (4/36) and Tanner Stanton working through the tail, the Panthers hopes were sadly dashed. It took a miraculous partnership from the scholars’ tailenders to avert crisis.
The ninth-wicket stand between Steven Reid (66) and Elias Karageorgiou (35) turned the game on its head, leaving Dandenong close but not close enough.
Brenton Murphy (25no) and Cameron Forsyth (22no) saw out the overs on a tough day at the office in Dandenong’s second innings.
Sitting 10 points outside the eight, with two rounds to go, it will take a lot of outright success and results falling its way to sneak into Premier finals, starting Saturday as Dandenong hosts Fitzroy-Doncaster.
