Haisman Shield | Eckard heroics guide Numurkah to tight win over Tatura

He then swung the game again with the ball, coming into the attack and making a mockery of the Tatura middle-order to finish with devastating figures of 6-31 and help restrict it to 170.

Clearly the catalyst to what was a hard-fought 10-run win against a gallant Bulldogs, Numurkah captain Dylan Grandell was full of praise for his star all-rounder.

“Michael was sensational yesterday, he really batted well and then backed it up with an incredible bowling performance,” Grandell said.

“He is his own biggest critic, so he was pretty annoyed to get out in the 70s there, but he really set the game up with the way he batted with such great intent.

“And then with the ball he just didn’t put a foot wrong, he’s bowled well all year without getting the reward in terms of wickets, so to see him finish with six I was rapt for him.

“As a captain I was really proud of Michael’s performance, he’s in some serious form at the moment and to have a cricketer and person of his quality on our team it is incredible.”

Winning the toss and batting first in glorious conditions at Numurkah Showgrounds, the Blues overcame the early loss of Grandell to build a solid platform.

Led by Eckard, who found the boundary on 11 occasions in what was a brutal display of counter-attacking batting, the Blues looked destined for a large score at 2-127 halfway through their innings.

But to Tatura’s credit it fought back hard, as star quick Blake Armstrong claimed the big scalp of Eckard which brought about a mini-collapse of 4-2.

Now slightly on the back foot, young gun Jordan O’Dwyer would help steer the home team out of trouble, with his unbeaten 26 seeing it to a healthy total of 180.

“To Tatura’s credit they bowled really well through the middle period and had us under the pump,” Grandell said.

“So for young Jordy O’Dwyer, who has just come back into the A-grade, to go out and bat the way he did was super important for us, he summed up the situation perfectly and that extra 20-30 runs we got towards the end probably ended up being the difference in the game.”

Fresh off producing its first 200-plus score in nearly two years in the previous week’s loss to Central Park-St Brendan’s, Tatura’s top order once again looked up for the challenge in the early stages of the chase.

Skipper Daniel Coombs (33) and fellow opener Lachlan Magee (32) got the ball rolling with a patient 63-run stand, before Armstrong (26) and Raj Singh (27) continued the assault to have the Bulldogs primed for a first win of the season at 2-108.

But this is where the class of Eckard came to the fore, as he ripped through the young Tatura middle-order to take six wickets and inspire an almighty collapse of 7-38.

Some entertaining ball striking by Bulldogs number 11 Zach Langlands (16) did leave the door open for a famous come-from-behind victory.

But in the end it wasn’t too be, as Mitch Grandell (2-22) helped clean up the tail and secure Numurkah its fourth win from five starts.

Sitting in third spot on the A-grade ladding leading into the Christmas break, Grandell said he was pleased with what his team had produced in the first portion of the season.

“We’re happy to have only lost the one game and feel we are only just starting to warm into it,” he said.

“It’s always good to get wins on the board pre-Christmas and now with some tough games coming up we are super excited for the challenge.”