By Russell Bennett
WGCA PREMIER DIVISION
REVIEW – SEMI-FINALS
After all the noise of the past couple of weeks, after all the off-field distractions, the Demons got back to doing what they do best on the weekend – winning blockbuster finals.
Kooweerup captain-coach Mark Cooper freely admitted it had been “quite an emotional couple of weeks” following a tribunal appearance mid-last week (for Chris Bright) in the wake of some real on-field drama in their clash against Upper Beaconsfield.
But the Demons got the chance to let their batting, bowling, and fielding do the talking on the weekend and they stood up in all three disciplines right when they needed to most.
Batting first, the Demons lost Cooper early – caught behind by Bradey Welsh off Luke Adams – for just five. And when his opening partner Chris O’Hara fell at 2/47, that triggered a sequence of another couple of wickets in quick succession shortly after.
That essentially summed up the tone of the innings – losing wickets in bunches right as partnerships started to be formed.
But the shining lights throughout the innings for the home side were the young guns – Tyler Clark (90 not out), Mitch Cammarano (26), and Luke McMaster (22). Their knocks weren’t chanceless, but they were crucial – particularly Clark’s.
Since Australia Day, he had a top score of just 18 leading into the weekend – but what a time to return to form.
The most impressive part of his game is that there’s still so much of an upside, and so much unrealised potential to come.
The Demons were ultimately dismissed for 192 in the 75th over on day one – leaving runs out there by not being able to bat out their overs.
Given how evenly matched the two sides are, Cooper said in the wake of the clash that the weekend’s semi-final felt somewhat like a grand final.
And the second day’s play on Sunday showed why.
The Gulls’ innings mirrored the Demons’ in a lot of ways, with batsmen getting a series of starts but only one able to go on with it.
This time around, though, Cal O’Hare’s fighting knock wasn’t enough – with the resistance coming unstuck with his untimely runout for 75 at 7/152.
The final four wickets of the innings would fall for just four runs as the Gulls were rolled for 156. Jess Mathers was outstanding with his 4/71 in 32 overs, while Luke McMaster finished with 2/42 in a shade over 27. Cooper and O’Hara took a wicket apiece, with O’Hara snaring a scalp with his first ball. It was just his second wicket of the season.
“Before the game I thought they were favourites on form,” Cooper said of Tooradin after the clash.
“Ours hadn’t been great for a period of time, and we rate them really highly.
“They probably won more sessions than we did for the game and were probably in front for a fair period of it.”
Cooper added that “the WGCA probably needed a game like that to focus on the cricket again, and the game shone out”.
He said the game “probably would have been over” in Tooradin’s favour if O’Hare’s innings continued for much longer than it did.
Nathan Voss, who affected the run-out, was playing in his first Premier grade game since Round 10, and just his fourth at the level for the season.
But he is a past top tier premiership player, and Cooper backed him in to produce something special with his selection.
And just like Clark (with the bat) and McMaster (with the ball), he stood up right when he needed to in the field.
Cooper praised Clark’s performance, particularly given the quality of the bowling he was facing from the Gulls.
By contrast though, Pakenham’s game with Devon Meadows was everything the other semi-final wasn’t – with the Lions steamrolling the Panthers inside a day at Toomuc Reserve.
Batting first, the visitors were dismissed for just 99 in 49 overs with only Kyle Salerno (39) and Brad Miles (28) offering any substantial resistance.
Jason Williams snared 5/31 in his 17 overs, while Tom Tyrrell (2/22) and Dale Tormey (2/23) took two wickets apiece.
Pakenham made light work of its reply, reaching 2/100 in just 27 overs with Chris Smith (37) and Dale Tormey (47) the not out batsmen.
“After losing the toss we were able to make the perfect start, taking three quick wickets – which gave us a huge surge of momentum with Tyrrell back to his best, grabbing two, and Smith the other,” Lions skipper Rob Elston said after the game.
“Credit to Miles and Salerno – they stemmed that tide and started to move the game to an even keel, (but) following the introduction of Williams the game swung again and wickets started to tumble.”
Pakenham didn’t have it all its own way early in its chase – losing Ben Maroney second ball, and Jack Anning soon after at 2/32 – but Smith and Tormey steered the side to its fourth straight WGCA Premier grand final.
