The scenes following a dramatic ending to the McIntyre Cup grand final – in which Riddell held on to beat Sunbury by six runs – ran the entire gamut of emotions.
There was Sunbury, heartbroken to come so close and lose. There was the jubilant group of Riddell supporters who raced onto the field when the Heath Boffey missed Daniel Fisk’s final ball.
PICTURE GALLERY: Riddell v Sunbury, grand final
And then there was the victorious captain Heath Wadden, who quietly accepted a beer and stood back, trying to take in a remarkable day’s play.
At stumps on day two Riddell had a 61-run first-innings lead. But Sunbury roared back into the game with an inspired performance in the second innings, dismissing Riddell for just 90 runs. Brad Hunter and Jason McGann both snared four wickets as Hayden Castle (40) played a lone hand.
It gave Sunbury a sniff. They needed 152 for victory, but only had 22 overs to bat, meaning they’d need to score at seven runs per over to pull off a reverse outright win.
Riddell was up and about early, Michael Treweek, Paul Webber, Stephen Treweek, McGann and Matthew Botten all back in the pavilion cheaply.
But Jacob Brewer and Boffey had other ideas. The pair started creaming the Riddell attack, Brewer getting to a half-century in quick time and Boffey racing to 38.
But they just couldn’t stop Wadden. He sent down 11 overs and picked up Brewer for 53.
It was the turning point of the game, but still, there was a palpable sense Sunbury could still win needing 12 off the final over, particularly with Boffey at the crease.
Wadden threw the ball to Daniel Fisk. His first three were dots, and then Boffey whacked him for four to mid-on, leaving eight to get from two balls.
Boffey skied the next one to mid-on and they scampered two, leaving six to get off the last ball.
All bar the bowler and the wicketkeeper moved to the boundary, but it was a moot move – Boffey played and missed Fisk’s final ball and Riddell had won.
“It feels good winning the premiership but geez we made it hard work,” said Wadden after the game.
“It’s a funny feeling, it’s a bit of a sombre mood, we’re all stressed and drained after the situation we were in. But that that will all change in a couple of hours time.
“This means everything to this club. The amount of work that goes on behind the scenes is more than people think or know, and that’s the best part about it, this is all for the club.”
