By Lance Jenkinson
Can Druids finally break into the Victorian Turf Cricket Association top flight?
The West Footscray-based club is giving itself every opportunity to snare that long-awaited promotion from the division 1 west competition this summer.
Moving six points clear on top of the ladder with one round to go, after a 114-run hammering of Greenvale Kangaroos at Shorten Reserve on Saturday, Druids have one hand on the all-important No.1 ranking in the finals.
Druids captain Leigh Wilson says the goal is clear for his club.
“We’ve been around the mark trying to get into senior division for three or four years now and that’s what we want,” he said.
Druids are building into their best form of the summer. The team from Essex Street has claimed back-to-back victories in the league and been a force in the Twenty20 competition.
Last Thursday night, Druids qualified for the Kookaburra Cup T20 finals with a semi-final win over Keilor, a side that is one division above them in the VTCA divisions.
Photo Gallery: Druids vs Greenvale Kangaroos
Wilson is confident Druids can match it with any side in the VTCA, but getting out of division 1 has been the hard part because only one team from their conference is promoted and one slip-up in the finals can be fatal.
“I think it’s massive for the club,” said Wilson of wins over senior division sides in the T20 matches. “We’ve been playing a couple of these sides in the T20 and been showing that we can really match it with them.
“We get another opportunity this week to really test ourselves against a quality opposition in Strathmore [in the T20 grand final on Sunday], but also we get a game where there’s high stakes on offer.”
The most pleasing aspect of Druids thrashing of Greenvale was the batting.
Druids blasted 5-297, largely off the bats of Shane Windridge, who made 139, including 14 fours and four sixes, and Steven Nicholson, who made 78.
“It’s what we really wanted because the couple of weeks before that our batting hadn’t been up to scratch,” said Wilson, who himself is in form after a match-winning knock of 58 in the mid-week T20 match.
Druids will face Aberfeldie at Clifton Park on Saturday, knowing a victory will secure the minor premiership.
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