Melton’s grand final hopes went down the drain as it was outplayed by Williamstown in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association north-west semi-finals.
The regular season’s top two teams met a week earlier than they would have liked, after the Seagulls suffered an upset loss to Plenty Valley the week before.
The Seagulls weren’t keen on copping another disappointing result and the Lions paid the price.
Lions coach Nathan Geisler said they were outplayed across the two days by a very determined Seagulls side.
Batting first, the Lions made 168, with Ben MacRae top-scoring with 53. Brad Jones was the only other batsman to pass 20. It was a score that never looked like being enough.
“They had a point to prove after last week,” Geisler said.
“We thought if we could scrap to 200-210, it would go a bit longer. And we needed to get early wickets which didn’t happen.”
The Seagulls got through a few overs on day one unscathed and didn’t have much trouble when they resumed on day two.
Geisler said the Lions bowled well at times, but the Seagulls batted well, led by Brenton Hodges, who made 79.
The Seagulls finished at 4-169.
Ash Sweet was the pick of the bowlers, taking two wickets.
Geisler said that despite falling short of a grand final spot, the side had experienced a successful season.
The Lions returned to finals for the first time since 2014-15 season.
“To lose just three games for the year and [be] one win off a grand final, it has been a good year,” he said.
“If you had told us we would have had a home semi-final at the start of the year, we would have been happy. Whilst it’s disappointing [losing the semi-final], we have come a long way. The challenge is to stay a strong contender for the next few years.”
Geisler said the development of some of the younger players had been the most promising thing to come out of the season.
“The younger guys have been more consistent,” he said.
“Jake Thornton-Gielen and Nathan Taylor with the bat – and Jake Charge has come on with the ball.
“Dylan Clarke didn’t have the year he would have liked, but he has had some growth as well.
“These guys will be the ones that take the team forward and they’re starting to take the baton from the older guys.”
Williamstown will play Kew in the grand final after it beat Plenty Valley. Kew made an imposing 9-323 from its overs, with the Bats compiling 188 in reply.
Tara Murray
