By Tyler Lewis
Springvale South has climbed the mountain again.
The Bloods are wreathed in premiership glory for the first time in over a decade after a stunning victory over arch-nemesis Buckley Ridges.
After finishing fourth and winning both its elimination and preliminary finals, Springvale South entered the grand final with a head of steam.
And despite some hiccups along the way, that momentum flourished in the crucial moments.
The Bloods got off to a steady start with the bat, courteous of Mitch Forsyth (14 off 46) and Ryan Quirk (33 off 54) before Forsyth chipped one to Bucks captain Ben Wright off the bowling of Matt Goodwright.
Once Quirk too departed, Jackson Sketcher and Jordy Wyatt put on a show.
In a partnership of 108, the duo added to the highlight reel seamlessly.
Wyatt launched a number of sixes, none more unequivocal than his straight drive with a frozen-in-time-like follow through.
But it was Sketcher’s towering six that caught the eye – for a moment – of onlookers, with the ball sailing well over the Alex Nelson Reserve pavilion.
Wyatt and Sketcher – both making 59 – were dismissed in quick succession, with a horrific mix up that cost Blade Baxter (0) splitting the two set batters.
The minor collapse threatened to be costly for the Bloods, who were set to post a score in excess of 250.
After losing 3/8, and seemingly struggling to find the rope, Akshat Buch’s late cameo proved monumental for the Bloods.
The left-hander blasted 24 from 23 balls, highlighted by an enchanting six over cover, to guide the Bloods to 8/225.
With skipper Ben Wright fresh of a century in the semi-final, and Mahela Udawatte doing as he pleased this summer, early wickets were always going to be the key for the Bloods.
For Paul Hill and his men, they got couldn’t have dreamt of a better start.
Zafar Sheikh’s dreadful call to run resulted in him being the first batter to be back in the sheds, with Brayden Sharp throwing the stumps down from close range.
While it was a horror start for the Bucks, it was only the beginning.
Udawatte slashed at his first ball outside off and edged it through to Wyatt who took a neat catch high to his right at first slip.
The Sri Lankan first-class star was shortly joined back in the changerooms by his captain, after Buch trapped Wright in front lbw to sink the Bucks to 3/4.
Jayson Hobbs (37), Troy Aust (58), Michael Davies (49 not out) and Ben Watson (29) all fought extremely hard in different game situations.
But for the Bucks, the horse had long bolted, needing 90 off the last nine overs with just five wickets in hand.
Davies and Watson sent a worry through the Bloods camp when they sent a few over the rope, but after the awful start, the finish needed to be flawless.
Josh Dowling was crucial dismissing Udawatte but was also incredible at the death.
The eventual Damien Fleming medal winner dismissed the major threat in Watson, before adding Goodwright (2) and Hussain Ali (0) to his tally to finish with 4/49 off 11.4.
The final wicket came from the arm of Mitch Forsyth in the deep, capturing Wes Nicholas short of his ground.
The throw sent the Bloods faithful into raptures as that elusive ninth Turf 1 premiership was finally secured.
Premiership captain Paul Hill said he couldn’t have dreamt of a better start from his bowlers in the run defence.
“It was, we wouldn’t have ever thought we would have them three for four,” he said.
“We would’ve always thought (Ben) Wright or (Mahela) Udawatte would get a few runs and we would back ourselves to defend the score, but to get off to that start was unreal.
“Both of the boys, both Dowlo and Buchy bowled beautiful spells (and) that run out first up, we have talked about being the best fielding team in the comp for a while.
“We have had plenty of run outs this year and good catching (as well), we knew we were capable of doing it.
“There is a lot of really good fielders in our side, we talk about that being one thing that can really separate us from the other teams. We work on it a bit, but a lot of it is natural talent in some of the boys.”
Three weeks ago on the eve of finals, Hill spoke to the Gazette ahead of his sides elimination final with Narre South.
“Everyone deserves to be where they are and the team that plays the best cricket over the next few weeks will be the winner,” he said.
Three wins and a premiership later, Hill recalled the comments and revealed it was an aim of his side to be at the peak of its powers for the remaining six weeks.
“I think we built into it really nicely,” he said.
“We set ourselves a goal six weeks ago to finish the season with five wins, we got that wash out in the last game which tossed us down to fourth, but we thought if we brought our best cricket, we could win the whole thing.
“I think the bowling, we bowled as well as we could’ve the last three weeks, we built that up over the year.
“The batting has taken care of itself, we chased down two smaller totals and then were able to set a target on Saturday, I think we timed it well and we have played our best cricket.”
Josh Dowling had a phenomenal finals series, collecting 2/19, 4/26 and 4/49 but, while Hill said he was a worthy winner of the Damien Fleming Medal, Dowling will be happy with that premiership medallion more.
“He probably started a bit slower than he would’ve hoped, but his finals series has been unreal,” Hill said.
“He is such a good fella and we know how much he cares about it, so it was awesome to see, I think he got 10 wickets in the finals.
“It was awesome to see him finish off the season and deservedly win himself an extra medal, but I think he will be more happy with the premiership rather than the individual stuff.”
SPRINGVALE SOUTH 2021/22 TURF 1 PREMIERSHIP XI:
Paul Hill (c, wk), Mitch Forsyth, Ryan Quirk, Jordy Wyatt, Jackson Sketcher, Blade Baxter, Kyle Martin, Akshat Buch, Jarryd Straker, Brayden Sharp and Josh Dowling.
