There was no hiccups this time around for Williamstown.
The Seagulls marched confidently through to the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association north-west group grand final with an impressive six-wicket win over Melton at MacPherson Park Recreational Reserve at the weekend.
Memories of last season’s semi-final heartbreak against Altona and last week’s qualifying final slip-up to Plenty Valley were extinguished as the Seagulls booked a spot in the season decider against Kew in a two-day game starting Saturday at Victoria Park.
“It was always going to be tough at Melton, but we played really good cricket over the whole two days,” Seagulls all rounder Craig Sheedy said.
“Ability-wise, if we went through each player and had enough guys play well on the same day, we can beat anyone … and we did that this week.”
Williamstown was in total command after the opening day’s play.
The Seagulls bowled Melton out for 168 and there were no weak links in the Seagulls’ bowling attack as they built pressure on Melton’s batsmen all day.
Patrick O’Malley was the main destroyer for Williamstown. The left arm spinner finished with immaculate figures of 3-29 off 20 overs.
“He bowled in good areas and just kept asking questions of them every ball,” Sheedy said.
Bryce Preston (2-25) and James Cook (2-22) were Williamstown’s other multiple wicket takers.
Williamstown’s run chase got off to a sizzling start with opener Brenton Hodges wasting no time late on day one.
The Seagulls had already picked off 18 runs before stumps, leaving them with just 151 to get on the second day.
It only took the Seagulls 57 overs to put Melton out of its misery, with Hodges the key for the Gulls with 79 and skipper Dale McDonald (45) and Sheedy (20 not out) guiding the side to the target.
Williamstown will be hard to beat in the grand final after recapturing its minor premiership winning form.
The Seagulls have enjoyed success over Kew this season, beating it in round two.
“Even though we’re playing at Kew, they’ve got the home ground advantage, if we have enough blokes play their best cricket over the weekend, we can beat anyone, anywhere,” Sheedy said.
