And then there were two.
The Goulburn Murray Cricket women’s competition was headlined by a 2023-24 grand final rematch as round five action took flight across the region.
One local hope in Shepparton Youth Club United had a bye — a perhaps frustrating couple of weeks wrapped up after pitch conditions forced the cancellation of its round four meeting with Kyabram.
Then again, with a young side and exams wrapping up to be followed by various festivities, maybe there won’t be too much complaining.
Anyhow, we were set for a belter on the pitch at Moama as Echuca and Mooroopna renewed hostilities after colliding in last season’s decider.
Nothing was going to come easily for the Cats, whose sole blemish since joining the competition came on that fateful day, and the rapid dismissals of Lauren Hall (duck) and Amani Issell (one) underscored this.
Those two early breakthroughs for the girls in green only served to precede yet more dominance off the bat of Gemma Boyd, brought in at four after spending the first three games either opening or arriving at first drop.
It heralded precisely the momentum swing Mooroopna was in need of as Boyd went about her unrivalled business with the bat, swashbuckling her way to a season-high unbeaten 41 and supercharging her side’s innings.
Even when it hasn’t come together at the top of the order, the Cats have found remarkable strength through the heart of their line-up with Charlie Nicholson and Maggie Egglestone combining to provide another 40 without loss.
All told, going at better than a run a ball is something you’d take every day of the week against an imposing Echuca side, so there would have been plenty of optimism after Mooroopna posted 4-121.
Chloe Moyle and Maisy Byrne pushed things off on the right foot in the home side’s chase, though Bella Woods broke up what initially looked a threatening pair by knocking the latter over for eight.
It all started to look pear-shaped for the green outfit once Moyle retired unbeaten on 21, though, with only one double-figure partnership to come for the remainder of the innings.
Sure enough, who else but Boyd to further drive the wedge between these two typically almost deadlocked teams, claiming three wickets after her game-breaking knock as Echuca simply ran out of time and firepower, closing the day out 34 runs short as the Cats moved comfortably clear at 4-0.
Coach Jeff Vandermeer hailed a spread of Cats who got themselves involved to secure this crucial result.
“That game had a lot of good even contributors throughout the day,” Vandermeer said.
“We lost ‘Loz’ and Amani early and they will normally score 20 or 30 between them, but Gemma was fantastic and had support from Kelsey and Charlie.
“They’re a very good bowling side, Echuca, and the girls wanted to challenge themselves.
“Last year, we probably relied a bit more on Gemma and Loz to make the runs, but Brendan Sleeth has been working with the girls to get them to contribute a bit more.
“Kelsey and Charlie have done really well through their determination and just wanting to work.”
Now having obtained a measure of revenge, Mooroopna’s focus turns to the most tantalising prospect of all — meeting Shepparton Youth Club United in a local derby where both teams enter Princess Park undefeated.
Meanwhile, Echuca sits in the remarkably rare position of dropping two straight games, forced to play catch-up as the Cats and the combine take hold of the table.
“Generally Echuca goes through almost undefeated most years, so I can’t remember the last time they dropped two straight,” Vandermeer said.
“They just keep coming at you, though. They bat deep and they’re pretty aggressive, so we just had to bowl the right lines and mix it up a bit.
“United has improved from last year with picking up a couple of girls and it’s good for the comp that teams are improving.
“There’s probably a bit of rivalry being the two Shepp-area teams; we know their bowling is very tight and their batters are more than capable.
“As always, we just have to get on the horse and go again.”
Across the league, it was an astonishing display of offence out of Nagambie, bringing a monster 117-run win home from Bamawm-Lockington United after Kait Carracher and Kayla Shepherd blitzed bowlers with a combined 13 fours and six sixes.
Rochester put in an industrious shift to shut out winless Kyabram in a clash of Campaspe sides to move its ledger to 3-1, while Katamatite got on the board in a Saturday night away fixture after upending Nathalia.
Finally, a rip-roaring half-century from Delaney Laffy — no fewer than 11 fours along the way — helped newcomer Moama even out with a 2-2 record after comfortably overcoming Cooma in an eight-wicket win.