Werribee Centrals’ Victorian Turf Cricket Association Clark Shield season turned in the space of a weekend.
The Centurions were staring down the barrel of relegation before a rare outright win thrusted the side into finals contention for the first time in a number of seasons.
Coach Tarique Jeffrey said a performance like that was massive for the club.
“It gives a bit of momentum,” he said. “It came at a good time for us to try and keep everyone positive and to keep the buzz around the club.
“Werribee Centrals itself compared to the last few years, it’s a step forward and we’re improving which is good to see.”
Jeffrey said it can be tough when results aren’t going their way and sometimes you need a bit of luck to go your way.
He said the outright victory against Barkly St Uniting was pretty crazy.
“To see before the win that we were in the relegation zone and we were thinking that we had to try and survive to stay in the grade,” he said.
“An outright win puts us in finals contention. We have to win the next two games and we’re in a good position to do that.
“Our seconds are doing well too.”
Jeffrey said a lot of injuries and player unavailability had hurt them and results early in the season.
Jeffrey was one of those to miss a number of games with a calf injury.
He said the group had kept a positive mindset during that time and it paid off.
They are now keen to see where the rest of the season takes them.
The Centurions face a big task on Saturday against Laverton, which is undefeated with two rounds remaining.
Laverton made 272 as it was bowled out late on day one.
Jeffrey was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets.
“If we are good enough to get the win it would be great,” he said. “There’s a reason why they’re on top of the ladder.
“It’s a big task for us and hopefully we can stand up with two to three good partnerships and get across the line.”
Meanwhile, the Centurions junior program continue to go from strength-to-strength.
Junior coordinator Gen Maurer said they only had a couple of players a couple of years ago now have under-17s, two under-13s and two under-11 teams.
She said they were hoping that the program would continue to grow next year and they would have junior sides in all age groups and looking to have about 10 junior teams.
“It’s a really good group of kids and they love playing with each other.”
