By Jordain Bain
Yarra Glen 1 st XI took on Kilsyth 3 rd XI in the RDCA John Springett Shield Grand Final, Saturday 11th March.
After a rousing semi-final victory over Wandin captain Matthew Coghlan had his boys primed for a big day.
Captain Coghlan would win the toss and elect to bat first on a beautiful setting at the Yarra Glen recreation reserve.
The crowd was building towards the start of the days play and by the end, the ground was packed with Yarra Glen & Kilsyth supporters alike.
Yarra Glen’s innings would start brilliantly with S Fordham (36) and T Gloury (20).
Kilsyth opening bowlers R Beale (2/32 off 6 overs) and S Nicholson (1/23 off 7 overs) would keep a consistent length to break the opening partnership with S Nicholson removing T Gloury
caught.
Yarra Glen’s captain M Coghlan would take off from where T Gloury finished with the run rate at 4 an over. Kilsyth captain M Burgess (1/13 off 5 overs) would be the first change in the bowling and pick up the key wicket of S Fordham, caught.
4 overs later and M Wells (1/22 off 6 overs) would take Yarra Glen’s power-hitting wicket-keeper in J Holland (0) bowled.
M Pickard (13) would enter the crease and steady the innings with M Coghlan.
Looking to capitalise M Coghlan would call M Pickard through for a quick single to be run out.
T Biddiscombe (27) would show maturity beyond his years and push his scoring past a run-a-ball.
A Woolhouse (4/5 off 1.3 overs) would break the partnership of T Biddiscombe and M Coghlan with M Coghlan bowled, A Woolhouse would continue to cause damage to the Yarra Glen lower-order with Yarra Glen being bowled out for 148 off 33.3overs.
Kilsyth openers of R Hutchings (6) and F White (1) were keen to carry on recent form from their semi-final win over Wonga Park but the Yarra Glen opening bowlers of L Senti (2/19 off 7 overs) and J Woods (4/26 off 7 overs) would prove to have an immediate impact with J woods dismissing F White, LBW and R Tooth (0) caught behind.
Kilsyth was 2/8 and looking nervous at the crease.
L Senti would remove R Hutchings caught behind with Kilsyth on the ropes at 3/14.
A Cook (20) and A Woolhouse (15) would settle the nerves and begin the task of pegging back the required run rate.
Yarra Glen’s first change bowlers A Derham (2/20 off 5 overs) and J Bain (2/18 off 5 overs) would create further challenges.
A Derham would claim the wicket of A cook, bowled and 3 overs later J Bain would remove A Woolhouse, caught behind.
J Woods would come back into the attack with Immediate effect dismissing S Smith (7) caught & S Downie (8) caught pushing Kilsyth onto the ropes.
7 wickets down and the required run rate pushing above 5 an over R Beale (20) batted very sensible looking to build a partnership whilst maintaining a positive run rate.
L Senti would break the partnership of R Beale and M Wells (13) with R Beale getting caught on the crease, LBW. J Bain would take the wicket of M Wells caught behind leaving Kilsyth with 1 wicket in hand.
A Derham would come back into the bowling attack and take the last wicket of K Harper (5) bowled with Kilsyth being bowled out for 117 off 31 overs.
This is the second consecutive grand final win for Yarra Glen 1 st XI! A considerable crowd gathered to congratulate and console players at the end of the Match.
Umpires for the day of Ajay Mabian and Matt Neal deliberated over the MVP of the match awarding it to Yarra Glen cricket club life member Jon Woods. Both side’s captains were complimentary of their
sides performance and thanked supporters and sponsors for their continued connectedness in season 22/23.
Yarra Glen cricket club thank Kilsyth cricket club for a fantastic day celebrated by great sportsmanship.
Congratulations to the Yarra Glen cricket club and Yarra Glen community for pushing past adversity and challenging times to celebrate their grand final success and bringing home the Bacon!
