There’s been grand final fever across Melbourne’s north-west in recent weeks, as the summer sports finish up their seasons.
There’s plenty of good stories from across all competitions and here is six of them.
Epping
Epping made it back-to-back titles in the Diamond Valley Cricket Association B-grade competition.
While there was finals heartbreak for the Barclay Shield side, the Pingers second XI brought some joy with another premiership.
The North Eltham Wanderers were sent in and made 9-206 from their 80 overs.
Pingers skipper Steve Trowbridge took three wickets.
There were a few nervous moments for the Pingers as they slipped to 2-4 but were able to bounce back and get the runs with nine overs remaining.
The Pingers finished 7-208.
Jaedyn Kearney top scored with 60, while Jordan Mckernan made 50 not out. It was the Pingers sixth grand final in eight seasons, with the Pingers winning their fifth title
Yarraville Club’s second XI came away with premiership glory in one of the most stunning fashions.
Facing Keilor in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association’s Patrick Quinn Shield, the match went down to the final over.
Keilor made 8-270 before the Clubbers hit the winning runs with two overs remaining and only one wicket left in the shed.
The Clubbers finished 9-273 with 17-year-old Jacob Jebara, who was batting at 10 sealing the deal with 15 not out off 13 balls and showing composure well beyond his years.
Altona Sports
Altona Sports third XI came out on top in the Western Suburbs Churches and Community Cricket Association division 6 competition against Vic Bangladeshi SC Green.
After securing second spot on the ladder in the home and away season, the team led by Varun Kumar played the arch-rivals and top of the ladder Vic Bangladeshi in what was anticipated to be a great game and a spectacle and it lived up to the hype.
Sports decided to bat and ended up scoring a mammoth 228 in 35 overs, led by Ravikiran Girradi who scored 53 and well supported by the veterans Amit Arora with 42, Nilesh Nerurkar with 34, Swapnil Kaushik with 27 and Ali Raza with 24.
Vic Bangladeshi didn’t have a good start with an early run out, but their batmen steadied the ship and were on track with the run rate until Ankit Batra (2-53), Ravikiran Girradi (3-38), Raza (2-12) and Sudhir Sharma and Kumar with one wicket each bowled the opposition out for 204 in 32 overs.
For his magical batting and outstanding bowling Ravi wherein he picked up two wickets in over to end the opposition innings and win man of the match.
It’s two premierships in the past three seasons, having made the grand final on each occasion for the side.
Melton Centrals
Melton Centrals took out the Western Region Junior Cricket Association under-13 mixed B Sunday premiership by defeating Point Cook.
Centrals finished the season on top of the ladder, having gone through the season undefeated.
In the grand final, Centrals batted first and made 6-150 from their overs with Tripjot Singh Saini top scoring with 28.
The match went right down to the wire, with Point Cook falling just short, finishing 7-146 off its 24 overs.
Centrals had four run outs while in the field which proved to be the difference.
Sunbury United
Sunbury United managed to pull off a thrilling win in the Gisborne and District Cricket Association McIntyre Cup second XI competition.
While both of the clubs first XIs were in semi final action the same weekend, a lot of attention turned to the second competition.
United made 163 as it was bowled out in the 71st over. Skipper Adam Billinghurst top scored with 44.
Romsey, the reigning premiers, pushed the total all the way, but fell short, bowled out for 161.
James Hughes and Cooper Boyes took three wickets each for United.
Macedon Ranges Tennis Association
The Macedon Ranges Tennis Association’s Saturday mixed open competition wrapped up with the ‘Battle of the Blues’
At the start of the season all eyes were on competition newcomers Macedon; however, it was Gisborne Blue captained by Angela O’Brien that quickly captured everyone’s attention.
They were the team to beat all season and finished on top of the ladder.
The two Kyneton teams finished in second and third, while Gisborne Black snuck into fourth spot.
The semi-finals were played in perfect conditions with Gisborne Black, playing its first final in several seasons, proving to be no match for Gisborne Blue which won 42-24 games (6-0 sets).
It was Kyneton Blue which secured a win over Kyneton Yellow 41-28 games (5-1 sets) to set up the battle of the Blues in the grand final.
Kyneton Blue started the match strongly with Chloe Turner and Kerrie Sheawick winning their doubles 7-2, and Lachlan Hooppell and Ting-Yao Kao taking out their doubles 7-3.
Gisborne Blue’s Steve van Emmerick and Keira Simpson played superb tennis to secure a mixed set win in a tie break over Lachlan Hooppell and Kerrie Sheawick, but it was all Kyneton Blue from there, taking out the remained three mixed sets 7-5, 7-5 and 7-3, and winning the grand final 41-25 games (5-1 sets).
