Above: Dandenong’s Dave Newman launches into a delivery against Northcote at Shepley Oval on Saturday. By Paul Pickering
DANDENONG’S quest for back-to-back Premier Cricket flags will be on the line at Ringwood’s Jubilee Park this weekend.
After missing a guilt-edged opportunity to clinch a finals berth with an outright victory over Northcote on Saturday, the seventh-placed Panthers will now butt heads with the Ringwood Rams in the competition’s final round.
And while it would take an unlikely series of results this weekend to bump the reigning premiers from the top eight, the Panthers can seal their own fate with a win over the fourth-placed Rams.
Of course, Dandenong could easily have been vying for a spot at the pointy end of the Premier Cricket ladder if not for a defiant fightback from Northcote’s batsmen at Shepley Oval on Saturday.
After seizing a 90-run first-innings lead by noon on day two, Dandenong’s new-ball attack – led by Dave Newman (2/25) and Paul Boraston (2/63) – quickly set about dismantling the Dragons for a second time.
And when leg-spinner Nathan Allen (2/70) resumed where he left off in the first innings (3/14), the Dragons were reduced to a precarious mid-afternoon score of 5/100.
But the visitors dug in under the leadership of Steve Baldwin (71 not out) to safely negotiate their way to stumps at 6/233.
For Dandenong playing coach Warren Ayres, it was a frustrating day in the field.
“We probably missed an opportunity to win outright,” he said.
“You’ve got to give credit where it’s due (to Northcote’s middle order), but I don’t think we bowled particularly well.”
But Ayres was eager to look ahead to the crucial clash with Ringwood this Saturday and Sunday.
The Rams will be stinging after seeing their first-innings lead overturned by St Kilda in a stunning reverse outright loss on Saturday.
“We’re going to have to be on the ball to beat them,” Ayres said.
“They’re going to want to come at us pretty hard – being another premiership contender.”
The Panthers will be looking to surge into the top five with a win, but it would take a major upset to derail Dandenong’s finals tilt.
Namely, 10th-placed Hawthorn-Monash Uni would have to claim an unlikely outright victory over ladder leader Footscray-Edgewater.
While Dandenong will be bolstered by the availability of Bushranger Darren Pattinson and Australian under-19 representatives Kumar Sarna and James Pattinson this weekend, Ayres was reluctant to make any predictions about the road ahead.
“It’s been incredibly tight this year,” he said.
“When you look at the top teams, they all have firepower and I don’t think there’s any easybeats.
“Anyone can beat anyone.”
And while the Panthers will have their minds on the job at Jubilee Park this weekend, the club will be keeping a keen eye on proceedings at the Sydney Cricket Ground, as Dandenong paceman Peter Siddle and the Bushrangers take on New South Wales in the Pura Cup Final.
After the final, Siddle will undergo surgery on the troublesome right shoulder that has hampered his promising summer.
