There was a little bit of everything as Bacchus Marsh kicked off life at Bacchus Marsh Racecourse Recreation Reserve with a win on Saturday.
The Bulls had been eagerly anticipating its clash with Wendouree, which marked the move to the turf wicket the club had been wanting for years.
Both sides entered the match without a win and when the rain started to fall it looked like there might be no result.
But the two teams managed to get on the ground with four minutes to spare before the cut off time and the Bulls were able to come away with the win on a day they won’t forget.
“We wanted to get the win as the pressure was mounting up, it was a really good win,” coach Sam Crea said.
“We had a few players stand up during the game. It was more of a team performance.”
Crea said finally making the move to the Racecourse Reserve for games was something that had been years in the making.
He said they made sure that it was a special occasion.
“We had 10 life members come down and spoke about what it meant to the club and past players,” he said.
“The committee have fought for this for the last 30 to 40 years to play on a turf wicket. The support of them made us stand a little taller.”
Wendouree managed to make 8-148 from 48 overs as rain hovered around.
Crea said it rained the last half hour of Wendouree’s innings.
Bradley Croxford took 5-24 for the Bulls to be the pick of the bowlers.
The covers were quickly on and being a new ground, Crea said they thought that it would drain quick,
Crea said they always thought they would get back on before the 5.05pm cut off time, but it was a matter of if it started raining again.
The two sides got back out at 5.01pm and the Bulls needed 97 off 21 overs to get the win.
Crea said they felt like they could get it done.
“We needed one guy to make a good score to get 97,” he said. “That was Ian Spiteri who in quick time, got a run a ball 50 and there were a few others around him.
“He’s 41 and he just keeps going.”
The win now gets the Bulls title defence up and going as they sit 1-2.
Crea said they already knew this year would be different to 12 months ago.
“Last year was just about being competitive,” he said. “Winning the grand final, the mind shifts and you now go out to win every game.
“We get the best of every team and we’ve seen that already. We can’t take anyone lightly.
“If we’re slightly off we can be beaten by any side.
“It’s been a bit of a wake up call [the first two weeks].”
Meanwhile, Darley’s match with Buninyong was abandoned.
The Lions were 3-148 off 35 overs when the match was called off.
