When the Tatts Stags went up against Hibo Cricket Club in last night's First Grade T20 grand final, they had more than victory on their minds.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
They wanted revenge.
Due to COVID-19, last year's one day grand final between the same two sides was called off, and the title awarded to Hibo, who had been minor premiers.
But this result didn't sit well with some members of the Stags, who wanted the opportunity to prove they were the better side.
And yesterday, that's exactly what they did.
On a warm night under lights at Seiffert Oval, the Stags lost the toss and were sent in to bat first.
After a catch was dropped early off his bowling, Hibo captain Luke Hayward (4-16) saw red and cut a swathe through the Stags' top order.
At 4-21, the match hung in the balance. However, a rollicking 39 off 24 balls from Dylan Maddock put the Stags back on track, and supporting cameos from Craig Fahey (14), Dan Cooper (14), and Mick Murphy (20), got them to 122 all out from 17 overs.
"I thought it was enough, we've got a really good bowling attack," Stags captain Simon Fitzsimmons said.
"I think in almost every game, we've kept every team under that. At one point, it looked like we were only going to make 100. We had a couple of good overs from their spinners, which we got 43 off.
"I think 120 with our bowling attack, if we took our catches and bowled our lines, which we did, it was always going to be enough."
That did not appear to be the case early, as Hibo began its chase positively.
At 2-40 in the sixth over, they were well on track to cruise to victory. But a spate of wickets for the Stags put the brakes firmly on Hibo's innings.
They fell to 5-42, before Ben Staples (22) played a steady innings to recover some small momentum. However, it was not enough to prevent the chasing side collapsing to 97 all out.
"[The T20 victory is] a little bit of redemption after we didn't get to play the grand final against Hibo last year, and a few of the boys were a bit sour that Hibo made a big song and dance that they'd won the premiership and they didn't beat us in the grand final," Fitzsimmons said.
"It's a different year, different competition, we have a different team, but it's good to put that one in the bank and hopefully get another one."
Fitzsimmons himself led from the front with a miserly spell of 2-8 from his four overs, while Mitchell Cook (3-18), Andrew Tivey (2-19), and Dan Cooper (2-29) were also among the wickets.
Victory in the T20 competition, Fitzsimmons said, will give the team a huge boost of confidence leading in to the second half of the one-day competition, which resumes on Saturday, January 30.
"We've only lost two games this year, and we probably could have won both of those," he said.
"We've got a good bunch of guys, our turn-up to training's better than it's ever been. The buy-in is really great."
While you're with us...
Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up here.
