By Tyler Lewis
That hurts.
Returning to the scene of its 2020/21 grand final defeat (Junction Oval), Dandenong was undone by one of its own.
The Panthers appeared to be on the brink of pulling off one of the bigger upsets of the season when Brett Forsyth (46 from 90) and Josh Slater (61 from 96) were motoring at 1/113 in its clash with ladder leaders St Kilda.
With Matt Wilson, Sam Newell and Gehan Seneviratne in the sheds behind the two set bats, the Dandenong outfit threatened to post a score in excess of 250 to set the Saints a competitive total on a day that seemed fit for bowlers.
But a middle order collapse firstly undid the Panthers, as they swiftly went from 1/113 to 6/137 – losing 5/24.
Despite a handy start from gloveman Sam Newell (20 from 26 balls), the Panthers fell to 10/166 from its 47 overs.
While it was a difficult day to bat on Saturday, with immense cloud cover, the Saints were never going to be challenged with such a total.
But it was how the Saints chased it down that rubbed salt into the wound of the Panthers.
It was former Dandenong premiership player Ed Newman that guided his new side home, with a mature half-century.
The talented left-hander left the Panthers at the end of the most recent season and has been in fine touch since.
Newman walked out to bat at 2/43, with the game in the balance, starting slow before accelerating at the perfect time.
His 53 came from 64 balls and included six boundaries and one six. His 94-run stand with Josh Manning was the match-defining combination as the pair took the Saints to the brink of victory.
While an unbeaten half-century would have rubbed salt even deeper into the wound, Newman’s third Vic Premier Cricket score over 50 this summer would’ve undoubtedly been a hard pill to swallow for the Panthers.
With Carlton not playing due to a wet outfield, Newman’s innings has secured his new side pole position ahead of the finals.
NEW-MAN…
DANDENONG
MATCHES: 77
RUNS: 1226
AVE: 21.89
50s: 4
100s: 1
ST KILDA
MATCHES: 13
RUNS: 438
AVE: 33.69
50s: 2
100s: 1
VPC LADDER
TEAM W L Pts
St Kilda 13 1 73 0.996
Carlton 10 2 61 0.853
Melbourne 10 3 58 0.625
Casey-South Melbourne 9 5 53 0.635
Richmond 9 5 52 0.528
Footscray 8 4 50 0.169
Geelong 8 6 44 0.145
Northcote 7 7 40 0.286
Essendon 7 7 40 -0.295
Melbourne University 6 7 38 0.112
Prahran 6 8 35 0.008
Ringwood 6 8 35 -0.285
Fitzroy Doncaster 6 8 32 -0.287
Frankston Peninsula 5 9 29 -0.144
Dandenong 4 10 24 -0.598
Greenvale Kangaroos 3 10 20 -1.019
Camberwell Magpies 3 11 18 -1.016
Kingston Hawthorn 2 11 15 -0.709
