To appreciate what it meant for Footscray Edgewater to claim 10 Prahran wickets and pick up a crucial 41-run win in Premier Cricket’s one-day country round at Port Fairy on Saturday, you have to go all the way back to February 28, the final round of last season.
In that game, the Bulldogs amassed over 400 runs and only needed to bowl Prahran out to feature in the finals, but the 10th wicket proved too elusive and the odds-on Dogs let it slip.
The pain of that day lingered over the summer, so the Bulldogs jumped at the chance to bowl at Prahran again, defending a small total of 169 by removing a previously undefeated side for 128.
Not only did the victory see the Bulldogs come out of a five-game block of one-day matches with a 3-2 record, it went some way to vanquishing the ghosts of last summer.
Bulldogs coach Steve Chapman told Star Weekly it was not only that final round game that caused his side to be on the finals outer last season, but the missed opportunities in games leading up to that fateful day.
In the context of this season, it might only be round five, but this was another must-win game against Prahran, ensuring the Dogs held a winning record going into the pre-Christmas block of two-day matches, rather than entering them behind the eight ball.
“I spoke to the lads at the start the game and I said when we couldn’t get the 10th wicket against these guys last year, you had to look back at other games and think, gee, there were some games where we just needed to take points,” Chapman said.
“I said, this is one of these times, one of those moments, and right about now we’ve got to do something about it.
“I didn’t want the lads to dwell on what had happened, I wanted them to focus on what they can do.”
Footscray Edgewater did not have as many runs to play with on this occasion, but achieved a par score on a grassy Avery’s Paddock wicket.
Matthew Gudde has proven a revelation for the Bulldogs in the opening month and was top-scorer with 36 on tough batting deck.
Captain Dean Russ (28), Travis Dean (26) and English import Dan Hodgson (20) chipped in with starts.
Tail-ender Michael Kelly’s 15 runs off 11 balls was valuable in a low-scoring game.
“Gudde’s innings was the difference between us being 135 all out to making 169,” Chapman said. “We felt 160 to 180 would be hard work [for Prahran], but we thought we’d lose if we didn’t get to that.”
Then came the psychological test, getting 10 Prahran scalps that proved so hard the last time the sides met.
Enter a new recruit, leg spinner Jeremy Hart, who finished with a game-breaking 4-25 off 10 economical overs.
Hart removed four of the top fie Prahran batsmen, including opener Adam Bull, who looked to be taking the game away from the Dogs, for 59.
“Until we got ‘Bully’ out, we weren’t going to win and that’s the bottom line,” Chapman said. “He [Hart] came on when the game was at 1-60 and just had an impact straight away.
“He flighted the ball and had outstanding control.”
Alex Hewet, recruited from Yarraville in the winter, built the pressure with 0-7 off seven overs.
Russ, a part-time slow bowler, took 2-25 off 8.4 overs, while Hamish Winter-Irving picked up two wickets to finish with 2-38.
The Bulldogs will travel to Casey-South Melbourne on Saturday for their first two-day game of the season.
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