When Tarek Moughanie talked with Westmeadows in April last year about taking on the coaching role, he thought the club had a good list with a number of younger players and some experienced heads.
Moughanie agreed to take on the job.
Add in Chinthaka Jayasinghe, who had played with Moughanie at Greenvale Kangaroos, and the Warriors looked to have covered off season departures.
On Sunday, they showed Moughanie was on the money by winning the Victorian Turf Cricket Association north-west A1 premiership.
“I’m obviously rapt,” Moughanie said. “The main focus for me was getting the first XI squad caring about each other and being really tight.
“You win big games with that and you can work through setbacks. It’s pretty rewarding.”
Against St Francis de Sales, the Warriors had to fight all the way, with play going until late on day four.
The Warriors had made 181 on day one of the match, with the Saints resuming at 6-122.
Rain washed out most of day three, but the teams got on to the field about 4pm.
It didn’t take long for the Warriors to wrap up first-innings points, bowling the Saints out for 154.
Sathpath Kamburugamuwa took all four wickets on day three.
“He bowled fantastic and finished off the tail,” Moughanie said.
With a lead of only 27 runs, the Warriors were sent back in as the Saints went looking for a reverse outright win.
They made 8-159 off 85 overs, with the game finally called with about an hour left to play.
“St Francis was brilliant all match and we have a lot of respect for the way they play the game,” Moughanie said.
“They dropped three or four chances and that could have been the difference.”
Aaron Evans posted a half century in a mature innings.
Moughanie said it was good to see the younger guys getting the job done.
He and Jayasinghe barely contributed with the bat in the grand final and the side still got up, which speaks a lot about depth at Westmeadows.
Danny Law’s efforts, particularly in the first innings, saw him awarded man of the match by the umpires.
For Law, both his innings went against his natural instincts to attack first.
“It’s not my natural game, but we had to get a total on the board,” he said.
“At 4-40 off to get 180 was a good result and in finals that’s a good score.
“In the second innings, they bowled differently and bowled more at the stumps. I’m rapt [to win man of the match].”
He made 70 not out in the first and a 30-odd in the second.
Moughanie admitted after the game he had been critical of how slow Law’s innings had been on the first weekend.
For Law the premiership is special, having been coach of the side when it struggled and was relegated after the 2014-15 season.
He’s thrilled to have helped the Warriors get back up to the north-west division and excited about the future.
“I’ve been at the club five years and there’s been a lot of sweat and tears during that time,” he said.
“There’s a group of young guys coming through and some good young players coming through the seconds.
“The way Aaron [Evans] batted, he carried us in the second innings. The future is bright with someone like him at the club.”
Warriors president Jeff Hubbard was a bundle of nerves on day four, but was ecstatic come the end of the match.
“It was a hard slog and that’s what they should be,” he said.
“It’s our third senior premiership ever and they’re not easy to get. It’s been 13 years since the last one, so it’s obviously a historic moment for the club. It’s taken a lot of hard work.”
Hubbard was full of praise for the leadership and spirit of unity Moughanie had brought to the Warriors.
“It’s because of him that everyone is on the same page,” he said.
“We lost Tarique Jeffrey, Praneeth Jayasundara, Chanaka Welegedara, but we had young guys coming up.
“It wasn’t the stars that won us the final, it was the local boys like Clayton [Campbell] and Aaron, and Danny … it’s been a team effort.”
The flag was a second for Glen Lambeth, who is the only player in the club’s history to play in two first XI premierships.
The win means the Warriors will be promoted to VTCA north-west next season – a challenge Hubbard is relishing.
“We think we deserve to be in that grade,” he said. “We lost a semi-final last year and we weren’t happy about that.
“People have always said that we look nice on paper – today we looked nice on the field.”
