DANDENONG DISTRICT TURF 1 GRAND FINAL PREVIEW
SPRINGVALE SOUTH v MORDIALLOC
WHERE & WHEN: Carroll Reserve, Box Street in Dandenong, Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 March.
CAPTAINS: Craig Slocombe (Springvale South) and Stuart Squires (Mordialloc).
Steven Spoljaric v Ian Daniel, Craig Slocombe v Stuart Squires, Malinga Bandara v Damith Mapa Ralage, Nathan King v Chathura Athukorala.
These are the kinds of mouth-watering match ups that will greet the large crowd at Carroll Reserve in what is set to be an enthralling Turf 1 decider.
The Bloodhounds from Ben Kavanagh are hell bent on defending its 2016/17 premiership title and enter the match in golden touch, and the Bloods, well they have set the benchmark for the majority of the season, and have become a ruthless unit capable of tearing an opposition apart before they can even blink.
While the Bloodhounds may have more experience in recent years on grand final day, the majority of viewers would be in agreeance that Craig Slocombe’s chargers are the side to beat.
But can anyone forget Ian Daniel’s special performance in last year’s premiership?
The star all-rounder played one of the finest games in the association’s history, making 62 and taking 8/43 off an incredible 27.2 overs. These are the kinds of performances that create legends, and out of the 22 players set to take the field, who will be the player that steps up and takes the vital wickets or plays the defining hand with the bat?
LAST TIME THEY MET: It’s been a while since the two sides crossed paths, with their only clash for the season coming at Ben Kavanagh back in Round 4. Batting first, Slocombe’s Bloods notched up 191 in 68.3 overs, with Malinga Bandara helping steady the ship late with a fine 37. Mordi were unable to handle the might of Steven Spoljaric (4/6 off 12 overs), who completely bamboozled the home side who crawled to 112.
THE KEY MEN….
Ian Daniel – 769 runs at 59.2, 24 wickets at 16.4; Chathura Athukorala – 22 wickets at 10.3
Steven Spoljaric – 423 runs at 47, 26 wickets at 10.1; Malinga Bandara – 34 wickets at 13.1
WHAT THE CAPTAIN’S SAY…
Slocombe: “It’s just a matter of fine tuning now, it’s the last game and if you’re not in form now, you won’t be, so we’re not too bothered about anything to be honest. The pitch is pretty much the same as every other pitch in the competition, Mordialloc played on it probably a month ago against St Mary’s, so I’m not really thinking about the ground, it doesn’t really matter to us on the day. You always expect a good, hard 180 over contest, and that’s what they’ll be playing for. There’s certain sides that attack certain sides but defend well and I think Mordialloc can do all of the above and I think it’ll be a tough 180 overs, that’s for sure. And it doesn’t matter (the toss), you’ve got to bat, you’ve got to bowl, and the best teams normally wins on the day. We wanted to bat first against Buckley Ridges, and we lost the toss and look at the result there, it went our way. You don’t plan for anything, whichever way the coin lands, it lands on, it’s not in your control. You put a lot of hard work in throughout the year, and now it’s the time where the fruits get delivered.”
Squires: “We’re very excited, it’s a slightly different feeling to last year, we’ve got a few changes to the team and we’ve got a few young guys standing up in finals which is good. It’s going to be a great game, there’s some quality players on both sides, you look at Spolly and Bandara compared to guys like Ian, Mapa and Chooka, but it’s going to come down to the team that can really turn the game with bat or ball, and we’ve got guys capable of doing that all the way through our lineup. With their bowling, Bandara and Straker will be the key, so we’ve got to combat them and make runs off them, and when you look at their batting, they bat deep so we need to work hard. We’ve got a really good bowling lineup that can take plenty of wickets, and we’ll need to be at our best to get them to a manageable score. We’ve had two really good games to get here, and against Hallam we made a big score and Brendo made a hundred, which was something we needed to do, which is encouraging. Against Springy it has been interesting, they’ve probably had the wood over us overall, but we’ve managed to get them in a couple of finals, so it’ll be a great match.
WHAT WE SAY…
On the spin friendly decks of St Mary’s, a place where spinners have feasted throughout the Turf 1 season, the danger of Malinga Bandara and Jarryd Straker looms ominously. Bandara is arguably the most important player in the two sides, and his astonishing 7/29 on the very same ground in the semi-final against Buckley Ridges only two weeks ago highlights how dominant he can be. But flicking the switch, the Bloodhounds have been here before, know how to win grand final, and are an exceptionally proud group with a glittering of stars that are versatile as any in the competition. The toss is important, and whoever wins this, needs to bat and try and place the pressure on who is batting on day two. But it’s easier said than done, the little moments will all count, and whoever can play the more ruthless cricket, will hold the trophy aloft come Sunday evening. Springvale South by a whisker.
LIKELY SIDES:
SPRINGVALE SOUTH
Nathan King
Liam Hamilton
Mitch Forsyth
Jack Sketcher
Steven Spoljaric
Dylan Quirk (wk)
Craig Slocombe (capt)
Malinga Bandara
Tim Ford
Andrew Staude
Jarryd Straker
MORDIALLOC
Brendan Morris
Ian Daniel
Jakob Woinarski
Damith Mapa Ralage (wk)
Peter McDermott
Ryan Morris
Stuart Squires (capt)
Chathura Athukorala
Lochlan Davies
Dylan Campbell
Tim Wighton
