By Lance Jenkinson
Spotswood has copped a catastrophic weekend in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association senior division.
The Woodsmen fumbled a chance to move into the top four ahead of the final round of the season – and were sucked back into relegation calculations.
All that because of a batting collapse that saw them crumble to finish on 9-163 in their chase of St Albans’ 7-175 in a one-day game at Donald McLean Reserve on Saturday.
Woodsmen player-coach Dan Schuppan was shocked by the turn of events that saw his side go from a position of power to defeat in no time.
“I’m devastated, gutted,” he said. “We’ve got no one to blame but ourselves. We get into winning positions and we just can’t get it done.”
Spotswood was in command at 2-95.
The wicket of Woodsmen top-scorer Ross Horkings for 44 sparked a collapse and changed the complexion of the game.
Photo Gallery: Spotswood vs St Albans
The Woodsmen lost their next six wickets for 46 and the run rate required grew to unmanageable levels, leaving them an agonising 13 runs short of the victory target.
“We were just cruising,” Schuppan said.
“If you said to me, treat it like a Twenty20 game, you’ve got eight wickets in hand, you have two set batters and all you’ve got to get is 90 runs, you’d say nine times out of 10 you’d get it done, especially at Spotswood where it’s a good batting track after tea.
“We just got ourselves out – and when you get yourselves out, you’ve got no one to blame but yourselves.”
Earlier in the day, Spotswood was content with the position its bowlers had put it in.
Allan Wise was the pick of the Woodsmen bowlers with 2-20, while Gene Maurice (2-27) and Thilina Masmulla (2-43) took two wickets apiece.
Perhaps the game-turning moment of the
St Albans’ innings came in the second last over when Tom Langley-Dunn hit two big sixes – the eventual winning margin.
Spotswood will face the toughest test of its summer on Saturday when it travels to Doutta Stars for a two-day game.
The Woodsmen’s future in the top division hangs on the results of this round.
“The reason why we’re so disappointed is that we’ve got so many experienced cricketers that have been around the traps and we know our best is good enough,” Schuppan said.
“We’ve got to dust ourselves off, not by thinking about Doutta, but by getting stuck into training. It’s important that we dwell on it for a couple of days and think about where we went wrong and then we get to Tuesday training and our focus turns to Doutta.
“This is one of those games … you’ve got to learn from it.”
Meanwhile, two-time defending champions Yarraville Club is stuck in second-last spot after a gut-wrenching one-wicket loss to Sunshine United. Bottom side Seddon is favourite for the wooden spoon after a 211-run beating from Doutta Stars.
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www.starweekly.com.au/sports/st-albans-prayers-are-answered-with-last-minute-thriller/
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