Band of blood brothers

By Gavin Staindl
THE Springvale South Bloods are the 2010/11 Dandenong and District Cricket Association Turf One premiers after beating the previously undefeated Buckley Ridges in a bizarre game at Keysborough Reserve last weekend.
For the first time since 2006/07, the grand final required a second innings to determine the outcome and just like the grand final four year ago, Springvale South found itself on the winning end.
After reducing Buckley to a mere 99, its lowest total of the year, Springvale ambled to a first innings score of 195, generating a 96-run lead.
Man-of-the-match Craig Slocombe (95) was the game winner, scoring nearly half of Springvale’s total to set the win up for the Bloods.
The Damien Fleming medallist was joined in the middle by five-time premiership player Andrew Sharp (20), who ruffled the feathers of the Buckley quicks when he took guard wearing nothing but a cap on his head.
When Slocombe and Sharp departed within half an hour of each other, the final Springvale wickets fell without much resistance; nevertheless, it left Buckley with a mountainous task.
Buckley, who went through the season undefeated, had to bring about a reverse outright in half a day if it wished to retain last year’s premiership.
As the reigning Twenty20 champions, the Ridges were keen to show off their big hitting and came out of the changeover with their tails high.
The Ridges looked to score off most balls, but with the dangerous stroke play came a bundle of wickets.
A total of 33 wickets were taken over the two days and with each passing wicket, the Springvale South players grew more excited.
With time running out, Buckley was eventually bowled out for 203 leaving Springvale with the simple run chase of 57 to secure its fourth Turf One premiership in eight years.
MEANWHILE, the Heinz Southern District Cobras are destined for Turf One for the first time in their 19-year history after beating Coomoora in the Turf Two grand final at Alex Nelson Reserve last weekend.
The Cobras never looked like losing as they rolled the relegated side from last season’s Turf One competition by 141 runs.
Had there been an award for man of the match, HSD’s Michael Davies would have been a shoo-in as he led from the front in the batting and bowling categories.
Davies top scored with 68 as his team posted a first-innings total of 7/291, and he backed it up the following day taking 6/18 as the Cobras bowled Coomoora out for 150.
The win over Coomoora ensured HSD snapped an 11-year drought of unsuccessful final campaigns.
Of the past 11 final series, the Cobras have appeared in nine of them but each time has fallen short of the major prize.
But a stellar performance by Davies, along with a half century by Navoda Ganegoda’s and a three-for by Paul Stockdale, gave the minor premiers the deserved promotion.