By Nick Creely
It took until the second last round of the home-and-away season, but the finalists to fight for the DDCA Turf 1 premiership are finally locked in.
Springvale South, Buckley Ridges, Berwick and Hallam Kalora Park will all see finals action this season, however the final makeup of the top four is yet to be determined. It means, however, that Mordialloc are officially out of the race to defend their premiership after going down.
Most of the attention of the round was down at Frawley Road, where Hallam set about the task of chasing the 200 set by Matt Chasemore’s Berwick on day one.
Despite steady openers Ben Hillard (11) and Leigh Booth (25) working hard to see off the new ball, a stunning over from spearhead Brendan Rose (2/15) got the visitors up and about.
Snaring the edge of Hillard at the start of the over to give Nathan Pilon some catching practice behind the stumps, Rose removed Jagveer Hayer four balls later without scoring, immediately placing the home side under pressure on 2/20.
It took another stunning purple patch, this time from Jack Phillips (3/20), to truly take the game away, snaring gun batsmen Jaime Brohier and Jordan Hammond within three balls of each other.
Booth fought hard to stay at the crease, but his undoing, brought about by a sublime catch by Matt Robertson off Jarrod Goodes (1/5), meant it was only a matter of time before the Bears could rattle through the tail.
Surviving just the 54 overs, the Hawks rolled over for a mere 84, with Cory Bevan (3/18) continuing his fine season with another nice haul of wickets.
North Dandenong, meanwhile, put in a mighty effort but ultimately fell short of hauling in a monster chase against Springvale South.
Chasing 372 for victory after a Steve Spoljaric century on day one, the Maroons were rocked by two early wickets, but managed to steady the ship largely through the efforts of opener Austin Heldt (55) in the first session.
But it was a stunning partnership between Akshay Ballal (112) and Shehan Fernando (74) brought the game back to life, with Ballal in particularly carving the ball to all parts on his way to his third century of the season.
With just 10 overs left in the game, the Maroons appeared to be in the box seat at 4/295, requiring a further 77 runs for victory at a tick under eight an over.
But spinner Jarryd Straker – as he has all season – delivered at an opportune time, snaring 5/73 to see the home side bowled out for a brave 344 in the 79th over.
Meanwhile, down at Ben Kavanagh Reserve, Mordialloc’s season finals hopes came to an end at the hands of Buckley Ridges.
The Bloodhounds appeared to be cruising in their chase of 273, with Brendan Morris (59) and Ian Daniel (81) compiling a brilliant 141-run opening stand, with Daniel’s strokeplay in particular an absolute delight.
But that’s where the home side’s momentum came to an end, with the pair removed within minutes of each other.
The Bucks rattled through the middle order superbly, with Greg Todd (3/39) in fine touch yet again, and the home side fell short, bowled out for 231.
And Heinz Southern Districts (134 and 1/34) defeated St Mary’s (84), which means the final round clash against North Dandenong will see the loser drop down into Turf 2 next season.
