Wyndhamvale captain Andrew Ford needed two hands to count the lamentable number of dropped chances that helped propel his side out of the turf cricket west A1 title race.
The Falcons went down in a season-ending 107-run loss to Williamstown CYMS at Fearon Reserve on Saturday.
“We dropped about nine catches, which killed us,” Ford said. “Had we caught them, we may have been able to keep them to around 110 or something like that.
“That would’ve been a bit more manageable and it would’ve been a different game.”
The Falcons’ yips in the field allowed CYs to post a more than competitive 200.
That would have been incredibly frustrating for the bowlers, who worked hard all day, none more so than Ryan Radford, who finished with summer-best figures of 5-54 off 21 overs.
“I thought it was the best he’s bowled all season,” Ford said.
“He got his length right, he seemed to find his rhythm and was grouping it in the right areas. He was definitely troubling the batsmen.
“It was a good pitch for the seamers with a little bit of up and down and a bit of sideways, so if you got your length right, you made life difficult for the batsmen.”
Jay Dolliver and Lance Macdougall snared two wickets apiece, while Chris Plummer and Aaron Graham also put the clamps on, but the fielders didn’t do them justice.
Despite the score blowing out on the back of the sloppy fielding, the Falcons were content to be set a target of 201 with a full day to get them.
“It was probably a par score … both sides would’ve been reasonably happy,” Ford said.
“We were thinking if we bat the overs we can get there, whereas they would’ve been confident of defending 200 on their own deck.”
The Falcons barely provided a yelp with the bat, bowled out for just 93.
CYs medium pacer Andrew Leetet left a trail of destruction by taking 7-41.
“I think it’s a perennial problem for Wyndhamvale, the old batting collapse,” Ford said.
“Too often it’s happened in the short few years I’ve been here.
“They’re obviously minor premiers and they got there for a reason.
“They played better than us and deserved to beat us, so no complaints really.”
