SEDDON reigns supreme in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association’s west B1 after cantering to a 10-wicket victory over Altona Roosters in the grand final at Donald McLean Reserve.
The Hawks went in as underdogs but came out with a flag on the back of an inspirational performance from captain-coach Tim Grant that will go down in club folklore.
Grant set the platform on the special occasion with an unbeaten 120 in the first innings and applied the finishing touches with 65 not out in his second dig.
“Tim Grant is a really great story,” club president Jason Grieves said.
“We picked up Tim when he moved into the local area and he liked what he saw with the club tucked away in a tiny pocket of Seddon.
“Our previous captain-coach had to go to the US to study and Tim filled in his position.
“It’s not just his work with the seniors. He’s giving back in all areas of the club and I’m really proud for him to win this premiership.”
Seddon’s team bowling display on the first of four days gave it the impetus for the crushing win.
The Hawks rolled the Roosters for a meek 100 in 76 overs with a spread of wicket-takers, including three to Paul Grant and two each to Tharindu Weerasinghe and Tom Kriebardis.
Grant’s 120 not out formed the basis of Seddon’s healthy 113-run lead on first innings.
Weerasinghe (21) and Kriebardis (20) made handy contributions with the bat before lionhearted Roosters all-rounder Leigh Lewis clicked into damage limitation mode with 5-50.
The Roosters were always going to dig their heels in on the second weekend as they were the minor premiers and pre-game favourites.
David Roach, the Roosters captain-coach, produced one of the great knocks of his career with 118.
Duy Pham added 43 and playing president Darren Wainwright 34 as the Roosters declared on 9-267, a lead of 154.
Those who predicted a tight finish were sadly mistaken.
The Hawks were in cruise control en route to 0-155 with Grant (65) combining with import James Oldham (75) to pass the target and land the title.
“It was a tremendous effort from them,” Grieves said. “They went out there to play their shots and not shut up shop. They produced chanceless innings.”
The Hawks will be promoted to a higher grade next summer.
They have also invested heavily in their junior set-up, embraced multi-culturalism and benefited from re-generation of the local area.
Grieves says the “unreal couple of weeks” culminating in first and second XI flags is a credit to not only the 22 players but every individual involved in the day-to-day running of the club.
“There’s a lot of people that made this happen. I want to see the faces of those involved with their photo on the wall in the rooms so they all feel a part of it.
West B1: Altona Roosters 100 (P Grant 3-17 T Kriebardis 2-14 T Weerasinghe 2-15 T Matkovic 2-27) and 9-267dec
(D Roach 118 D Pham 42no D Wainwright 34 T Weerasinghe 3-54
T Kriebardis 2-68) lt Seddon 213 (TJ Grant 120no L Lewis 5-50 D Wainwright 2-35 C Dine 2-55) and 0-155 (J Oldham 75no TJ Grant 65no).
West B2: Seddon 172 (S Butera 57
M Rae 38 M Nolton 4-33 J Elkington 2-10 M Sulman 2-20) d Altona Roosters 49 (L Davies 5-7 C Weitzel 2-7 C Stow 2-22) and 86 (L Davies 5-41 C Weitzel 4-26). -Lance Jenkinson
