Tara Murray
Wyndham Vale finally got itself into a winning position and made the most of it in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association Pollock Shield on Saturday.
The Vales were without a win at the Christmas break with the young side really sticking together despite the results not coming.
It only took one match in the new year for the tide to turn, beating Moonee Ponds.
For captain-coach Liam McLaughlin it was his first win as coach.
“The monkey is off the back,” he said. “It was well overdue I think.
“We were not down or anything [with the first part of the season]. Being a really young team we knew it would be tough with a lot of younger guys, but we’ve been able to stick fat and push through.
“No one dropped their heads and we knew that we would get into a position to win a game and that happened on the weekend.”
The Vales won the toss and elected to bat, making 190 as they were bowled out in the final over of the day.
McLaughlin said it was a total they were happy with.
“We thought it was a pretty good score,” he said. “It’s one of the highest scores we had in the last couple of years.
“We were really happy at the halfway mark when we came off.”
McLaughlin found some form with the bat, top scoring with 65. He and Nathan Griffiths (56) were the keys, putting on 131 for the second wicket.
McLaughlin said Moonee Ponds got a lot closer than they would have liked, but they were able to get the job done.
Moonee Ponds finished 5-171.
“We had a couple of experienced guys pull us over the line,” he said. “They had two guys put on 100-120 that we really needed to get out.
“They both run themselves out within an over of each other and it helped lock in the win.”
It was all single wicket takers for the Vales.
The win moves the Vales off the bottom of the ladder. McLaughlin hopes it will lead to a few more wins.
“We were pretty happy it was a one-dayer after Christmas,” he said. “We are more of a two-day team.
“If you can make 190 in a two day game it can win you a lot of games. Hopefully we can get a few more games with scoring like that and some wins.”
In the Roy Picone Shield, Point Cook got a hard fought win against Maribyrnong Park St Marys, while Werribee Centrals lost to Glenroy.
In the Evans-Clark Shield, Point Cook Centrals was too strong for East Coburg, while Bellbridge lost to Gellibrand.
