By Molly Magennis
The Druids Cricket Club first XI are inching closer and closer to finals contention, but still have a hard journey ahead if they want to make it all the way.
Their win against Sunshine United in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association on the weekend kept them in fourth position, just above Keilor who maintains hot on their heels.
Coach and captain Michael Hay said heading into the game he knew it was going to be tough as the team needed to keep winning to secure a finals spot.
“Looking at the wicket I knew that both teams are probably gonna want to bat first and that it would deteriorate quite a bit in the second inning so I was glad to win the toss and bat first,” he said.
The Druids made 9-162, which Hay thought was just slightly below par but definitely a winnable score.
“I feel like with our bowling attack, we’ve bowled pretty well throughout the whole year and that we could definitely defend it.”
Hay was the top scorer, hitting 53 runs for the Druids. He said although he batted a bit differently than normal, he was still pleased with his performance considering the wicket.
“It was good, I feel like, everyone just had to play straight on that wicket because you didnt know he didn’t know when a ball was gonna stay low or do something out of the ordinary, so it was pretty much just risk free, making sure we tick the scoreboard over.”
Hay admits that the next few weeks will be a challenge, but said that the team knows exactly what they need to do. They’ll face off against Yarraville Club this weekend, who have had a very successful season and sit just above the Druids on the ladder.
“They’ve got a pretty good team, they’ve shown it all year so hopefully we can get the job done then,” Hay said.
The club already has two other teams locked into the finals, the fifth XI and the fourth XI, with Hay pretty confident his team can make it there too.
“I feel like at the start of the year [finals] was definitely a goal of ours,” he said.
“[It would] probably be good if we do beat Yarraville then they slip down and we’re pretty close to them.”
“We’ve got the right team, we’re in pretty good spirits so hopefully we can all just make sure we get down to training, keep doing the hard yards and make the results happen on the weekend.”
