Tara Murray
Point Cook Centrals fell agonisingly short of making the Victorian Turf Cricket Association Evans Clark grand final on Sunday.
After sneaking into the finals in the final round, the Sharks had nothing to lose against Gellibrand on the weekend.
The match would go down to the wire, with just one wicket standing between the Sharks and victory.
Sharks captain Brett Talbot said there were mixed emotions after getting so close to the result they were after.
“We got pretty close, but not quite there,” he said. “They held their nerve at the end.
“Their number 10 and 11 played the scenario very well. They were calm and knew to take a big stride.”
The Sharks decided to bat on day one in difficult conditions. Talbot said there was a little bit of unknown how to handle them, with the possibility of being heated off.
“We were more cautious than anything,” he said. “We had a slot start.
“We lost crucial wickets before and after tea and that hurt momentum. We thought it was a competitive total.”
The Sharks were bowled out for 207 with four balls remaining, with Talbot top scoring with 73 in the middle order.
Gellibrand started well and at 1-95 seemed in control of the run chase. The wickets started to fall frequently.
Talbot said they knew they needed to get into the middle order if they were to have a chance of getting the win.
“They are a really good team,” he said. “We know the top four or five score most of their runs.
“We got a bit of momentum and stuck to our plans and were quite disciplined and they worked.”
Gellibrand finished 9-210 making the runs in the fourth last over.
Ashen Perara took 5-66 for the Sharks.
Gellibrand will face Moonee Valley in the grand final.
For Talbot, it was his last game after announcing his retirement. He said he’d still be involved in recruiting and on the committee.
He said the work they’ve done the last few years has made the place a good place to be. He said satisfying was one word to describe seeing where the club is at now.
“The community has really got behind the club as a whole,” he said. “The committee led by president Mark Earl, who is inspirational.
“The twos were unfortunate and the threes were even more unfortunate. It’s a really good place to be which has been created in the last 12 years and more focused on the last 36 months.”
