Panthers leap to 10-point lead

By Justin Robertson
CATCH us if you can.
After a solid start to the year, the Dandenong Panthers put in some mediocre performances and could have had a string of losses if it wasn’t for some favourable weather. But, after just missing out on a likely outright win last week against Hawthorn-Monash, the Panthers have shifted gears and continued their recent blistering touch on the weekend to rip through St Kilda for an easy win and storm 10 points clear of their nearest opponent.
Panthers skipper Darren Dempsey was full of praise for his in-form mob.
“It was a fantastic win against some pretty good opposition,” he said. “So we are definitely happy with the way we are going at the moment.”
On what appeared to be a green Harry Trott Reserve wicket, Dempsey won the toss and decided to bowl first.
And it certainly paid off.
Dempsey said Justin Butterfield’s match-winning figures of 9/66 (26) set up the win.
“He bowled beautifully all day,” he said. “He deserved to get the wickets he did.”
He was well supported by Brett Fairbanks (3-14), James Nanopolous (2-33) and James Wilcock – who went wicket-less but Dempsey said he bowled extremely quick and dried the runs up at one end.
St Kilda capitulated under the stingy line and length from the Panthers and were all out for an inferior 96.
The Panthers lost Tom Donnell early (11) in their pursuit, but Alex Hales (106) and Nick Thomas (45) steadied the ship with an 88-run stand.
Hales scored his second century of the summer and Dempsey hopes that more is on the way.
“The great thing about Alex is that he scores runs very quickly, so he really does take the game away from the opposition when he does that,” he said. “It’s a good sign, when he gets a start, he goes on with it and scores pretty big.”
Dempsey (49), who also paid tribute to Thomas’s solid knock, said they were in search of quick runs on Sunday and raced to 8-283 (declared).
The Panthers fell short of yet another outright, but claimed seven vital wickets, with St Kilda on its knees at 7/114 in its second dig.
With three T20 matches left before the mid-year break, Dempsey said he did not predict his team would be sitting on top of the ladder.
“No way, I didn’t think we’d be in the position we are in now,” he said. “But, we’ve had some luck and have confidence now and hopefully we can keep up this good form.”
The Panthers will take on Prahran (Toorak Park) and Melbourne University (at Shepley Oval) in two T20 matches this weekend.