The never-say-die spirit of Roxburgh Park Broadmeadows was on show as it went down fighting in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association’s north-west grand final against Plenty Valley.
The Falcons could have been forgiven for thinking the game was over when the Bats were 3-85 needing just 116 to take the first innings win.
But two wickets in as many balls to Falcons captain-coach Mitch Johnstone gave his side some hope.
And with another wicket to Johnstone, the Bats had slumped to 6-95.
Picture gallery: Roxburgh Park Broadmeadow v Plenty Valley
“We fought really hard, but it wasn’t to be,” Johnstone said.
“We were probably 20 to 30 runs short … had we got a few more runs on the board, I dare say it would have been close.”
The skipper took the first seven wickets, finishing with 7-57 from his 27 overs as the Bats passed the total just before tea on day two.
The Falcons were left to rue a late-order collapse on day one that saw them lose 5-20 to be fired out for 115.
“We generally back our lower order to give us a contribution,” Johnstone said, “but it wasn’t to be … a few loose shots, that’s probably where we lost the game. A few dropped catches early on hurt us, too.”
Once the Bats had made the winning runs, Johnstone and the Falcons weren’t ready to give up, with play continuing past the tea break when the score was 7-120 as they sought early wicket in the forlorn hope of forcing an outright.
The Falcons took just one quick wicket through Adam Yates after play resumed, persuading Johnstone to call the match off with the Bats on 8-128.
“We thought if we could bowl them out and get 100 runs, we’d have a another go,” Johnstone said.
“It was a bit optimistic, but you’re better having a go rather than just accepting a loss and doing nothing about it.”
Despite the disappointing end to the season, Johnstone said his side had made massive improvements.
“Coming from second-last a couple of years ago to where we are now, we have a good, tightknit group and a good culture developing,” he said.
“So it’s onwards and upwards from here. We will learn from this.”
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