A Reserve Semi Final – vs Exeter
By Brad Eames
Finishing on top of the ladder we pushed to have our Semi Final played at the luscious Uni Mowbray where the GF would be played in a couple of weeks. Things started well when we were sent into bat by Exeter and despite a loss of an early wicket, Hindsy and Rex put on a solid 2nd wicket partnership of 56 before Rex fell for 20 and Hinds for 38 just before drinks. Muller and Eames continued on after drinks and with Muller accelerating the score reached 3/117 off 26 overs before Muller departed for 31 and a collapse occurred, losing 7/24 and being bowled out for 141. We knew 141 was competitive at Uni but we knew we’d have to bowl well. JB and Peasey started off tight and the pressure got to the batsmen who took on Dav’s arm for a risky 2nd run and Tim Styles was run out for not many. With the main danger out of the way, the bowlers turned the screws with JB picking up 2 and Pease, Clay and Davern continuing to apply pressure to leave Exeter struggling at ???? at drinks. After drinks Greenie came on and picked up a wicket and Davy added another before another scintillating piece of fielding by Muller caused another run out and they needed 60 off the last 10 with only 4 wickets in hand. Muller came on and bowled a great spell of 3/14 to have Exeter bowled out for 119.A Reserve Grand Final – vs Trevallyn
A controversial couple of weeks were over and the boys were ready for the biggest game of the year! An unchanged line up was named and the side was aiming to break the drought and claim a club record 14 victories in a row. Things started well again with the win of the toss and we were more than happy to see them in the field. A scratchy start by Hinds (being dropped on a duck) was overshaded by some power hitting from Agostini who raced to ??? before being caught at Mid On for ????. Rexy missed out (1) and Muller strode to the crease where he and Hinds added a smart ???? including Muller belting (Lick ten Donks) for 14 off 3 balls before Muller tried once too often to go over the top and got bowled for ???? leaving us 3/???? In the 15th over – the run rate was good but we needed to consolidate. Unfortunately, Hinds fell for ??? just before drinks and Davern for ??? just after drinks leaving us at the precarious position of 5/??? off ??? overs. Eames and Clay dug in and survived a few tough overs before Clay started to break the shackles and Eames started to scratch a few ones around the place, the pair added ??? for the 6th wicket before Clay was caught for ???? and we were 6/??? off ??? overs. Eames stuck around for a few more overs being caught behind for 31 and the tail scratched together enough runs to get us to 151. We knew we could defend this score after the Semi Final but knew it would take another fantastic team effort. Pease charged in and got an edge in his first over but unfortunately it went to ground before JB dismissed Richardson a few overs later LBW for not many. Pease continued to charge in and again was unlucky to have Fitz put down in the outfield (where Ivo dropped a soda) and Trevallyn momentarily gained the upper hand as (the lucky to be there) Kettle put 2 huge 6’s over the mid wicket fence. A bowling change in the 10th over led to a moment that will go down in Hadspen history with a fired up Grant Davern sending down a cracker first up to send Kettle packing caught plum in front and that was followed by a cracking wide ball that a nervous number 4 edged to be smartly caught at first slip. Some astute sledging by Ivo brought about the soft dismissal of Fitz off the bowling of Clay and Dav chipped in for one more to have them in trouble at 5/??? at drinks. With Green troubling the batsmen at one end, JB keeping things tight at the other and the George Town footy club providing mental disintegration on the boundary, the long Trevallyn tail was exposed with Green claiming the wickets of Brown, Richardson (both caught Ivo) and Richards and JB chipping in to get another (43 for the season) in his last over. The ball was handed to the Pres and it only took 5 balls before the 16 year drought was over, knocking Trevallyn over for 99 and claiming the clubs first ever A Reserve Premiership. Dav finished with 4/21, Green 3/11 and JB 2/??? but Dav was the star and claimed BOG honours. In what was an extraordinary team performance all year the Grand Final continued the tradition of when it was your turn to stand up – you stood up! 1 of 2 was complete!Congratulations to all involved!
