Yarraville Club was galvanised by a game-threatening injury to captain Emmett Bronca on the first weekend of its Victorian Turf Cricket Association senior division grand final against South Caulfield.
The opening bowler left the field clutching a hamstring after completing 10 overs at Crofts Reserve and took no further part on the second day.
“He felt that real back-burn in there, pulled up and said he better get some ice …otherwise it could get worse,” Clubbers top-order batsman Justin Baker said.
“He’s given himself every opportunity to come up next weekend.”
The Clubbers had 169 to defend and needed all hands on deck.
Bronca hobbled off with South Caulfield just one down and the forecast appeared gloomy for his side.
But Adam Contessa was installed as caretaker skipper and the bowling department was flush with some bit-part contributors to fill the void.
The Clubbers went on to take 7-60, leaving South Caulfield at 8-108, still 61 runs behind.
“When you lose your captain and your opening bowler most teams would panic, but we didn’t,” Baker said. “We pulled together tight. There was a lot of communication on the ground and the rest of the bowlers have stood up.”
Richard Sherlock was the chief destroyer with 4-27 off 13, but it was far from a one-man band.
All six bowlers used on the day were disciplined with their lines and lengths and gave little away.
“Everyone did their job when it was their turn to bowl,” Baker said.
“The discipline shown by [Matthew] Murphy, Contessa, ‘Tocka’ [Michael O’Keefe] and Sherlock was fantastic.
“They bowled one side of the wicket, did all the right things to build pressure and put South Caulfield under the pump.”
The Clubbers are in a strong position thanks to a middle order revival from Anthony Cristofaro (66) and Ben Tupper (33).
The pair came together when their side was in trouble at 7-72 and put on 89 for the eighth wicket.
Tupper played the support act, turning the strike over and building frustration in the South Caulfield ranks, while Cristofaro went on to register his top score since returning from a thumb operation.
A 169-run total might not seem much on paper, but given the conditions and the recent history of the Morris McDonald Oval, it was a score which gave the Clubbers’ bowlers plenty of ammunition.
“We did a bit of research and the average winning score for the year on that ground was 159,” Baker said.
“No one had scored more than 200 on the ground so we sort of thought … it’s not a bad effort and it gives us something to bowl at.”
Play will resume at 1pm on Saturday and continue into Sunday if a fourth day is required.
