By JARROD POTTER
AFTER the problems of last weekend’s washout, DDCA Turf premierships concluded with Buckley Ridges, Lyndale, Mordialloc and Narre North claiming premierships.
TURF 1
The champion of Turf 1 in one sense was Buckley Ridges (5/342cc), but in a more defined meaning it was definitely Daniel Watson (188 not out), who composed a fantastic multi-faceted innings against Mordialloc (107).
Watson was 87 not out after last Sunday and found amazing touch on Saturday, bludgeoning 100 runs in less than 20 overs, including 17 boundaries and two massive sixes to generate the highest score in a DDCA Turf 1 grand final.
With great help from captain Marc Calkin (43) and Troy Aust (31), Watson was able to tee off to great effect against the Bloodhounds’ best and finished unbeaten in the centre with brother Ben Watson (4 not out) at the other end in an especially proud moment for their dad and retiring president Kieran Watson.
Mordialloc was blown out of the water by Wes Nicholas (6/41) and Greg Todd (2/24), running through their order in 47.2 overs to grasp the premiership and make it three in four seasons after their back-to-back wins in 2009/10 and 2010/11.
Buckley Ridges president Kieran Watson, still in awe after his son’s swashbuckling 188 not out, said it was one of his proudest moments seeing both his boys at the crease at the end of the batting innings and watching Dan destroy Mordialloc’s bowling.
“It’s an ultimate moment for me,” Keiran Watson said.
“Last year as president, been around a long time at the club and five years as president.
“With both the boys out there at the end, there’s nothing better.”
TURF 2Lyndale (1/163) will gain promotion to Turf 1 after comfortably knocking off Cranbourne (160).
Lyndale’s match-winning pair, Dale Tormey (90 not out) and Jaime Brohier (64 not out) made light work of the chase on Saturday afternoon, taking only an hour and a half to chase down the remaining total.
Cranbourne’s young bowler Akaati Pupuke (0/34) bent his back for 12 economic overs.
Lyndale captain Rory Ingram said it was tough to stretch the match across two weekends, but knew his charges could get the job done when they were needed.
“It is an amazing feeling, especially with all the time we’ve spent in Turf 2 – it’s been a great club, a lot of wonderful people around it, and we’re happy to be here,” Ingram said.
“It was a bit tough having to stretch another week, but we knew we had to come back and do the basics – we pretty much had them on the back foot day one, so we just had to play to our strengths.
Their grand final loss to Coomoora last season spurred the boys on to go one better this time around.
“Having got there last year and missing out, we knew we had the experience of getting there before, so we just needed to know we’d go the extra mile and get the job done,” Ingram said.”
Ingram said he was excited for the side to move up into Turf 1 and wanted to thank everyone at the club for their help in getting the cup.
“We put a lot of hard work into it from the club – from the president down to the cleaners – whoever, everybody involved – it’s a great day and a great time for Lyndale Cricket Club,” he said.”
TURF 3
Buckley Ridges (9/263cc) made it two-for-two from their firsts and seconds with a Turf 3 win over Hampton Park (110).
Joel Barnett (76) and Basil Hobkirk (54) added 136 for the fifth wicket while on the bowling side, Richard Hope (5/41) claimed the best honours.
TURF 4
Turf 4’s premiership went to Mordialloc (5/105), with Coomoora (97) proving little resistance.
Chris Konings (3/42 from 18 overs) was the best faring Kangaroo with the ball, but was unable to knock off the Bloodhounds’ match-winning Cam Tomkinson (46 not out)
TURF 5
The Turf 5 premiership will head to Narre North (90), which managed to defend a scant total against Lynbrook (88).
Amit Sirohi (31) held the Lynbrook innings together, but couldn’t hold out against Narre North’s Ali Najibi (4/10) – with a superhuman 12 maidens – James Webb (3/24) and Matt Dodman (3/26).
