You could not blame Footscray Edgewater players if they thought, ‘oh no, not again’ as their Premier Cricket finals hopes again came down to the last match of the season.
The Bulldogs have endured final round heartbreak in each of the past two seasons, both times when they thought they were in winning positions.
Footscray Edgewater’s luck could be about to turn.
The Bulldogs have not one paw, but three paws in the finals after producing a stunning first day performance against Geelong at the Merv Hughes Oval on Saturday. The Dogs grabbed a 199-run first innings lead to set themselves up for an outright, which would guarantee a finals place.
“If you were to write a script, it would’ve been pretty similar to that,” Bulldogs top-order batsman Dean Russ said.
“We knew we had to win and we’ve been in that situation the past couple of years. The great thing is the destiny of playing finals is in our hands.”
Footscray Edgewater leads by 180 runs and already has Geelong two down in its second dig. Surely nothing can go wrong for the Bulldogs this time, can it?
Russ has been around the block often enough to know that his side can’t afford to leave the door ajar for teams below them in the standings.
As Russ sees it, the Bulldogs must go for an outright or they’ll be susceptible to the pain experienced at this stage of the past two seasons.
“We need to win outright, and that takes control of everything,” Russ said.
“We prefer not to have a ‘what if’ where you have to check the scores. It stops a Prahran or a Carlton getting in if they win outright after winning on the first day.
“We’re in a good position. We’ve just got to take eight more wickets and then we can sing the song and hopefully play finals.”
Footscray Edgewater opening bowler Hamish Winter-Irving created carnage for Geelong, the visitors perishing for just 57. Winter-Irving needed just nine overs for his 5-23.
A front-line bowler, Winter-Irving has long been held back by nagging injuries, but with a free run at it for most of the season he’s now considered an elite talent in the competition.
“He’s showing he’s a bona fide top opening bowler in the competition,” Russ added. “I think a lot of people are taking note of that. He’s bowling good lengths, making batsmen play, and he’s able to swing it and do a bit off the seam. I must admit I enjoy watching him at first slip because I wouldn’t want to be facing him as an opening batsman.”
Footscray Edgewater quickly picked off the 58 runs it needed to secure first innings points, doing so without losing a wicket as Greg Munro (51) and Matthew Underwood (21) put on 65.
It was all about building a good lead before captain Dylan Kight declared the Dogs’ innings at 4-256, after half centuries to Kight (54no) and Russ (50), and an important 46 from Hayden Butterworth who was playing against his old club.
The declaration came with seven overs left in the day. Footscray Edgewater made the most of them, further asserting its dominance with two late wickets.
“To get them two down was fantastic,” Russ said.
“It’s definitely not going to be easy to get the last eight wickets, so we’re going to have to bowl well next week.”
Australian star Aaron Finch could be available for Geelong in the second week, which could spice up the game.
