By JARROD POTTER
WGCA DISTRICT
REVIEW – SEMI FINALS
WHO would have thought the top seeds would be snuffed out at the penultimate hurdle? A year of intrigue found a new way to twist the script and set in motion Pakenham Upper/Toomuc hosting Clyde in the finale.
CARLISLE PARK v PAKENHAM UPPER/TOOMUC
There were contrasting fortunes for Carlisle Park (150) – solidly up the top end of the ladder all season – and Pakenham Upper/Toomuc (6/259) – which has bounced in and out of the four – in the second semi.
The Yabbies just batted the Vikings into a point of no return as Saturday was a rare off-day for the District doyens as their partnership-breakers failed to fire.
From all parts of the order – not just the usual triumvirate Scott Clark (31), Ben Spicer (26), and Nick Fairbank (12) – the Yabbies stood tall.
Rory Gilliatte (71) and Josh Noonan (38) carried on recent strong form while Adam Mitchell (30no) set himself at the end to see out the overs.
The Vikings could not break them quickly enough as a huge tally against strong opposition on the synthetic ground at Carlisle Park would prove daunting for any side to hunt down.
The Vikings’ started poorly, losing Ammar Bajwa (2) and the skipper David Nutting (2) for a pittance to Scott Clark (2/36) and the terroriser of Vikings Nick Fairbank (5/39).
Carlisle Park had to brace itself around Mark Henry (50) – who continued his great season in District passing 400 runs – and Travis Canavan (25), but their finals experience couldn’t overcome the constant Yabbies’ pressure.
Combining with Fairbank – who cleaned up the middle order – Ian Mortimer (2/37) spun through Canavan before snaring Les Howell (25) later in the piece, to all but shut the door on Carlisle Park’s grand final hopes as the tail fell fast.
“Saturday when we had a hit that was probably one of the best team performances I’ve been involved in,” Yabbies skipper Scott Clark said. “Probably only one score under 30 – so it’s just about the boys playing their part and they did it really well.”
That’s four on the trot now for Carlisle Park, nee Lyndhurst, as the side has lost a gut-wrenching quartet of semi-final defeats stretching back to 2011/12.
DEVON MEADOWS v CLYDE
THIS was the match that had it all. Ups, downs and a huge finish on Sunday as Devon Meadows (121 and 8/118dec) threw it all at Clyde (175 and 6/43) … but came up just short.
The Panthers struggled to get out of the starters’ blocks against probably in part due to Pat Lawson (3/40) and Dean Williams (3/26) throwing hand grenades at them.
The top order imploded under the pressure as the Panthers quickly fell to 5/47 after Jamie Glen’s (7) gutsy defence came to an end via a straightener from Kyle Brooke (1/13).
Darren O’Brien (31) proved crucial alongside Lucas Carroll (22) as the duo forged some form of foundation to the tune of 32 runs.
It wasn’t easy work for the Devon Meadows’ dab-hands though. Brooke and Lawson had the ball talking and it spat up from all parts of the pitch. Despite the barrage slicing O’Brien in half a couple of times, he managed to endure and keep the innings alive.
John Simpson (3/11) chipped in for a few home-spun wickets, especially telling when he found Carroll’s edge to break the Panthers’ only partnership of note.
O’Brien held on as long as he could, batting through the innings and supporting the tail-enders, but eventually the perpetual pressure led to the Camel finding himself trapped in front as the side fell for 121.
Shane Webster (56) started the response strongly – pushing through as scalps fell around him. Mick Floyd (4/55) and Ash Adams (3/46) struck through while Matt Hutchinson (2/47) was no slouch with the ball either.
Webster anchored alongside Daniel Walton (23) and Simpson (22) in the top six to get the side over the first innings line … but that was not the end of this tale.
Nick Miles (26) had a quick-fire slap-about at the death to post 175 from only 48 overs. It left plenty of time for reverse shenanigans and Devon Meadows tried to set the scene with a ludicrous display of hitting. They smashed 8/118 declared off 17 overs to try and make a match of it.
Hutchinson (5/26) hurled down on last dogged spell, searing through the top order alongside Ash Adams (1/10), but time was not on the Panthers’ side as the Cougars saw off the final flurry to book a finals spot.
“On Saturday we bowled first and Patty Lawson and Dean Williams were really good and that really set us up,” Simpson said. “To roll them for 121 really set it up and we were 3/77 at the end of the first day and Webbo (Webster) made 56 and opened and only went out when we had one run to pass them.
“I went out with three overs to go (in the second innings) and probably didn’t need to play a shot – so Brookesy came in and wore a few – got hit in the throat, hit in the legs, hit everywhere – but he did what we needed to bat out those few overs.”
The WGCA District Grand Final preview will be available online on the Pakenham Gazette website on Friday morning.
