Williamstown has achieved the sweetest redemption of all, taking out the 2017-18 Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association north-west group premiership.
Twelve months ago, the Seagulls were pondering the one that got away, finishing as minor premiers only to bow out at the semi-final stage.
The Seagulls hit the repeat button this summer, filing an impressive home-and-away campaign to qualify for the finals in first place, but this time they were desperate to finish the job.
There were times during the finals campaign that a premiership appeared to be slipping away from them.
Losing week one of the finals and relinquishing home ground advantage was not ideal, nor was the rain that greeted them on the first day of the two-day grand final. But it all fell into place on Sunday, as the rain went away and the Kew ground staff did a wonderful job of preparing Victoria Park for play.
Williamstown got the job done in the big dance, beating Kew by seven wickets.
Man-of-the-match Brent McMinn fittingly hit the winning runs.
McMinn top-scored with 73 not out off 98 balls as the Gulls chased down Kew’s score of 8-174 to finish with 3-178.
“Unbelievable,” Seagulls all-rounder Craig Sheedy said of the premiership glory.
“It was a great day, it worked out really well.
“He deserved to be the one to hit the winning runs. Right till the end he was focused on what he was doing.”
Williamstown feared that Kew’s total would be hard to chase down.
The pitch was not impossible to make runs on, but it did take patience.
“It was a pitch where, if you lost wickets, you needed a bit of time to get in,” Sheedy said.
“It wasn’t a big score, but they probably got 20 to 25 more than what we would’ve liked.”
A fast start from Brenton Hodges, who made a run-a-ball 17, got Williamstown in front of the run rate required. Pat O’Malley helped set the foundation with 12 off 27.
It was McMinn and captain-coach Dale McDonald who did most of the heavy lifting for the Seagulls. The pair combined for a 79-run third wicket partnership before McDonald was dismissed for 38 off 70.
McMinn and Sheedy, who contributed 23 off 30, had an unbroken 50-run stand to guide Williamstown to victory with 29 balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, Williamstown did well to contain Kew to a manageable score to chase.
O’Malley was the focal point of the Seagulls attack. The left arm spinner finished with 3-23 off nine overs, including the scalp of Kew top scorer David Wildsmith.
“Today, under pressure, he was great,” Sheedy said.
“There was one wicket there where he wore a bloke down that much that he had him mentally stuffed and he just ran down the wicket and got stumped.”
It was Williamstown’s first 1st XI premiership since 2006-07. The Seagulls had played in two grand finals since, but lost both.
It was “a big relief” for the Seagulls to end the club’s 11-year flag drought and reward those who have worked so hard to put the club in a position to compete for a premiership.
“There was a lot of people there today that have been around the club for 50 years or more,” Sheedy said.
“To see their faces after the game was unbelievable.”
