The Oakleigh Cricket Club stood on the precipice of immortality on the Saturday night of their two day grand final match ups, but unfortunately fell just short of unprecedented glory. The First XI after a gallant fight, finally conceded to a Noble Park team who made better use of the friendly conditions on day one. The Second XI claimed a long awaited premiership in a hard fought battle against a worthy opponent in Werribee. The Third XI stamped themselves as a team for the ages with a back-to-back success in a one sided thrashing of Bayswater, while the Fourth XI fell short after setting up a tilt at victory to a powerful Malvern team.

FIRST XI: Oakleigh 117 (Warren 26, McCarthy 25) lost to. Noble Park 7/152 (Splatt.M 4/28, Williamson 2/20)

Losing the toss and being forced to bat first on a wicket affected by heavy rain throughout GF week, the Oaks courtesy of openers, BJ & Robbie moved cautiously to 40. The controversial loss of last season’s premiership decider centurion McGuinness created a chain reaction of which the Oaks never recovered, quickly slipping to 4/63 with BJ, Travaglia, McCarthy and best performed batsman of the year, Sam Jones all back in the pavilion.

A 38 run stand between two in-form players, Warren & Hodgson had Oakleigh hoping to set a competitive total, but a stunning collapse immediately after tea which resulted in a loss of 5 wickets for just five runs firmly placed one of Noble’s hand on the trophy.
An 11 run stand for the last wicket between Junkeer and Ross merely prolonged the agony for the stunned Oak fans, however this team has proven time and again never to write them off, no matter how perilous the situation might appear.

Veteran Noble skipper, and chief Oakleigh tormentor over the years, Dean Edmunds opened with a scorching cover drive for four clearly outlining the vistors strategy. However his attempt at replicating the shot next ball saw Splatt jag the ball marginally taking an inside edge and caling his wickets, leaving Oakleigh with a glimmer of hope at 1/4.

From this point though Noble took full control with superstar Issy Perera and Ben Edmunds strongly capitalising on the attacking fields to plunder 64 runs, the important wicket of Perera claimed by Williamson on the stroke of stumps gave the Oaks just the tiniest glimmer of hope for a miracle on the final day of the season.

Both teams appeared anxious on the Sunday and Oakleigh pounced first, Edmunds holing out to Warren on the deep mid wicket fence from Williamson, then Mick Splatt struck, reducing the Parkers to 6/87 with the tail at the crease and still 31 runs required. Another wicket to Splatt from a defensive push caused by his hostile spell had the crowd tension at breaking point, before several lusty blows from Noble import, Vorster saw them through to the victory target.

Another meritorius season for the Oakleigh First XI unfortunately fell agonisingly short of that elusive back-to-back triumph. Without taking anything away from a deserving Noble outfit, the Oaks senior team will be disappointed with the finale, and hoping to regroup for another shot at the powerful South group next year, wiht several emerging powers in the East hotly on their tails.

SECOND XI: Oakleigh 8/253cc (Splatt.A 64, Naughtin 53, Devlin 47, Allard 34) def. Werribee 223 (Croft 4/55, Jones.A 2/32, Devlin 2/45)

Oakleigh 2s made their third trip to faraway Werribee in just over a month, with the record standing at one apiece, after the Oaks put the Bees to the sword in round 12, with the home side returing the favour in the first final.

A spectacularly lush outfield made scoring difficult, but a sensible and committed opening partnership from skipper Naughtin and first year player, Allard saw the Oaks safely reach 93 in the lead up to tea. However a flurry of wickets either side of the break saw Oakleigh slump to 5/107 with all the momentum going to the Tigers.

Dual First XI premiership star, Andrew Splatt and in form all rounder Jermey Devlin were charged with resurrecting the innings and did it with great aplomb, running hard between wickets and not allowing the bowlers to dictate terms. Their 99 run stanza was broken in the pursuit of quick runs, but was absolutely vital in setting up a premiership winning score. Some late lusty hitting from Alex Jones saw the Oaks innings come to a compulsory close at 253.

While every club would take 250 in the first innings of a final, Werribee’s strong batting line up, a placid wicket, and the memories of a convincing loss just two weekends beforehand had the Oaks well aware this would be a battle to the end.

The early Oakleigh spells were a touch straight allowing Werribee to build their innings without the pressure of a rapidly escalating run rate. A 62 run partnership was broken when Jones drew a catch at the wicket.

Werribee entered the tea break at 1/100 with Oakleigh frustrated, but far from despondent, knowing that one wicket would swing the momentum in this epic title fight. The introduction of spinner Daniel Croft turned the game back to the way of the boys in purple and gold, as he took a sharp caught and bowled chance and slowed the run rate to a walk. Several uncharacteristic dropped catches could have had Oakleigh well on the way to claiming the title, but they were not to be in this pulsating contest.

The skipper introduced himself and nipped out Werribee’s skipper and best bat for a duck, a further 3 dismissals to croft had Oakleigh on the cusp with Werribee teetering at 7/167. However the docile pitch and a long batting order once again conspired to throw the result into doubt once more.

With just 36 runs required from five overs, the home side were favoured, but the re-introduction of Devlin saw another twist. Two wickets in his return over, both brilliantly caught by Matt Price in the outfield, had the Oakleigh side tasting a win. The next over bowled by Jones brought about the release of ecstasy as Werribee’s last hope, Palmer holed out to sub Will Taylor at long on for a well judged take.

After finishing on top of the ladder well clear of their rivals, Oakleigh were deservedly crowned premiers, great reward for skipper Matt Naughtin who joins club luminaries, Ben Drew, Marcus Spencer and Sam Blackburn as Second XI Premierhsip captains.