Tara Murray
There’s a sense of determination surrounding Bundoora United this season in the Diamond Valley Cricket Association Money Shield.
After missing out of finals last season on percentage, the group is determined to bounce back this season and again push for finals.
The Bulldogs have started the season strongly and now have three wins from their first five games.
Bulldogs captain Joel Thompson said the group was keen to atone for last season.
“The end of last year burned all winter for us,” he said. “Finals are where the team wants to be playing, so to miss out narrowly is a massive drive for us.”
The Bulldogs made light work of their run chase against Banyule on day two of their match on Saturday.
Having restricted Banyule to 148, the Bulldogs resumed at 2-21. The Bulldogs were able to build some partnerships early on day two and when they lost a wicket it didn’t come in clumps.
It didn’t take long for the runs to be chased down, with the Bulldogs finishing 5-150 in just 44 overs.
Luke Joyce top scored, finishing 47 not out.
Thompson said it was one of those matches that they needed to win.
“It was a good opportunity to chase down a small total,” he said.
“They are the ones that are challenging to get the job done. That’s the pleasing factor and with the ladder so close, winning those low scoring games will go a long way to get us back into finals contention.”
Thompson said things were tracking along really well throughout the club.
Chris Daw has taken over the coaching role from Thompson.
“He has been doing a wonderful job for us,” he said. “It’s a really fun environment and training numbers are really strong which we didn’t really see in the past on Tuesday nights.
“We’re seeing 30-40 players and that rolls into Saturday. All four teams had a win on Saturday and that is a reflection of that.”
Thompson said while he’s no longer coaching, he was still spending plenty of time about the club helping out the committee and other areas behind the scenes.
With the side sitting fifth after five rounds, Thompson said the focus was to continue momentum into the Christmas break.
“We want to get into a good position before Christmas,” he said. “We still don’t know the fixture for after Christmas.
“We want to be in a good position at Christmas which makes it more relaxing.”
In other matches, Eltham beat Montmorency, Lalor Stars lost against Plenty, Lower Eltham was way too good for Bundoora Park and Greensborough beat Laurimar.
