WILLIAMSTOWN had the wind knocked out of its sails after a dramatic last-ball loss to Brighton in a Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association south-west group one-day thriller at Brighton Beach Oval on Saturday.
All-rounder Craig Sheedy had the chance to pull off what would have been a miraculous Seagulls win, but not even one of the best at-the-death bowlers could deny the home side a two-wicket win.
Six hours of edge-of-your-seat cricket came down to the last delivery. The Seagulls needed a dot ball for victory; conceding a run would see the sides play out a rare draw.
But the unthinkable happened. Somehow Brighton managed to take a second run and snare all six points.
“It went to mid-off, it was a pretty rough outfield and the ball bobbled around a bit,” Sheedy told the Weekly. “Unfortunately, they scrambled through for two, and we were on the wrong end of it.”
The Seagulls have only themselves to blame. They are ruing the three lost overs from their batting innings after being bowled out for 148 in the 42nd over.
It was a still a good recovery from the Seagulls to post a competitive total after slumping to 4-17.
Brenton Hodges, the club coach, pointed the way with 68 and received support from Mathew Inness (11) and Luke Rainone (12) in the middle order.
Otherwise, the cupboard of runs was bare.
“Hodgy came in and battled away really well,” Sheedy said. “Balls were jagging all over the place but he hung in there.
“Then he started to get going, got a few fours away and got us back into the game. We were looking down the barrel, but he got right on top of the bowling.”
The Seagulls were not about to give up — not with the calibre of bowlers at their disposal.
They had the hosts in early trouble at 3-47 with opening bowlers Inness and Cain Speakman turning up the heat.
Brighton went through a period of consolidation, but the Gulls kept probing and eventually wore them down with a fourth wicket on 92 and a fifth one run later. A further three quick scalps and the hosts were 8-116.
All the momentum was with the Gulls for the first time in the match. The game-changer in the middle period was lanky Seagulls speedster Daniel Popa, who reeled off an economical 2-10 off nine overs.
“He bowled nine straight overs and was magnificent,” Sheedy said. “The young fella has got a bit of height about him and just dropped it on a length.
“He was unplayable at times, would’ve beaten the bat 30 times. They couldn’t get a feather on them.”
But the hard work the Seagulls did to get back into the battle would amount to nought.
Tail-enders Ryan Sweeney and Andrew Harrod dug deep to get Brighton over the line in a grandstand finish.
Sheedy said two close losses to start the season would only serve as motivation heading into the clash with Malvern at Morris Street on Saturday.
VSDCA RESULTS
Firsts: Brighton 8-149 (D Popa 2-10 M Ferrie 2-18) d Williamstown 148 (BL Hodges 68); Altona 138 (J Wells 59 A Hewet 4-6 AJ Yates 3-28 N Parish 2-26) d Yarraville 129 (MM Harrison 29 S Sidari 2-12 L Elmore 2-21 O Alsop 2-24 J Duff 2-25)
Seconds: Williamstown 75 (N Bratby 27) lt Brighton 4-76 (J Flood-Bauce 4-22), Yarraville drew Altona
Thirds: Coburg drew Williamstown, Altona 7-172 (F Ali 46 J Donazzon 40 M Findlay 2-14 A Sikandar 2-24) d Yarraville 7-166 (B Jones 44 R Keenan 32)
Fourths: Yarraville 113 (M Beasley 65 J King 3-20 A Rafferty 2-13 AE Peters 2-26) lt Altona 7-118 (N Birthisel 35no A Rafferty 28 K Thavarajah 3-14 J Scholes 2-9); Williamstown 4-120 (T Ball 31) d Coburg 117 (M Lauder 3-20 B El-Kurdi 3-26 U Malik 2-25)
