Panthers’ charge ends

By Paul Pickering
An enthusiastic crowd turned out for the Premier Cricket spectacle, and the locals would have been buoyed by the start of Panthers openers Brett Forsyth (29) and Ricky Damiano (29).
The pair set a useful platform of 40 runs before Saints paceman Adam Warren (2/38) struck, dismissing the dangerous Forsyth – coming off an unbeaten ton against Melbourne in the semi-final.
Explosive all-rounder James Nanopoulos (4) came and went, cutting hard at a Daniel Babula (3/16) delivery only to tickle it behind.
That brought Dandenong’s skipper and Twenty20 trump card Darren Dempsey to the crease – high on confidence after scoring 212 runs at a strike-rate of 182 in three previous matches.
But Dempsey’s decision to walk across his stumps to a Warren slower-ball proved fatal, and he left the field cursing himself after being bowled behind his legs.
Dave Newman (21) momentarily lifted the mood with a series of fluent cover drives, but the wickets continued to fall at regular intervals as the Panthers slumped to be all out for 113 inside 18 overs.
In reply, Saints openers Andrew McGuiness (28) and Damon Rowan (12) combined for a 40-run first-wicket partnership, before losing 4/30 courtesy of some clever bowling from Dandenong quicks Darren Pattinson (2/23) and Paul Boraston (2/27).
Any ideas the Panthers had of victory were quickly eliminated by an unbeaten partnership from player-of-the-match Glen Lalor (37 not out) and Ryan Heywood (17 not out).
The duo guided the visitors to victory with 19 balls to spare, and in doing so secured the $3000 winners’ cheque for the Saints.
Dandenong pocketed $1500 as runner-up, and Dempsey was named the player-of-the-series for his trio of entertaining knocks.
The individual award was of little consolation to the skipper.
“I suppose it’s nice to win those little things, but it’s nicer to win premierships,” Dempsey said.
“Obviously we’re focusing on the overall competition at the moment, but when you’ve got an opportunity to win a premiership you want to take it.
“We went about it the same way as we had in previous matches, but it just didn’t come off.”
Dandenong had to settle for a draw in their two-dayer against Hawthorn-Monash University on the weekend, with rain denying the Panthers a chance to defend their total of 347.
They will now travel to Jubilee Park to face Frankston Peninsula in a 50-over clash on Saturday.