Old Students could have avoided nabbing a place in the winners’ circle this week with just a few more minutes on the clock.
In a closely-fought Haisman Shield encounter at Euroa Friendly Societies Reserve, Old Students came perilously close to dropping the points on Saturday.
As the middle order threatened to fall apart in the reply innings, falling to 5-69 at one stage in pursuit of Euroa’s 221, Luke McPhillamy slotted in at eight and formed a game-clinching innings.
THE GAME
Euroa 221 (Andrew Butterworth 43, Scott Hamilton 39, Liam Callegari 3-59, Callan McCabe 2-40) lt Old Students 236 (Felix Odell 68, Luke McPhillamy 59*, Vaughan Kirk 5-67)
STAR PLAYER
Felix Odell (Old Students): In sweet victory, Odell’s innings was nothing short of pivotal. A witness to 164 Old Students runs, Odell played the middle and end of the chase brilliantly.
Felix Odell top-scored, most of it by McPhillamy’s side, in the victorious chase with 68 off 138 balls.
Their patient yet prolific partnership eventually led to a 15-run win, a long-awaited first triumph of season 2023-24.
The job was not yet over after passing the target, though.
After the 107-run stand crossed into winning territory six wickets down, Euroa saw an opportunity knock when Odell fell off the bowling of Jye Bjorksten.
Could Euroa clean up the faltering Students tail quickly enough to nab the make-up runs in the day’s dying minutes?
Having to bowl around McPhillamy, who would finish unbeaten on 59 (13 fours), Vaughan Kirk carried on with the bowling near-heroics that kept Euroa in the fight throughout the day.
His eventual five-for fell short by moments, though, as Students survived long enough in being dismissed for 236 to call the game.
By the skin of their teeth, it was a triumph to savour for Callan McCabe.
“It’s fantastic for us to get our first win,” McCabe said.
“It was a great game, but the partnership with Odell and McPhillamy was key for us and took us over the line.
“It just shows the depth we’ve got in our batting line-up, though we haven’t been able to put that into performances until the weekend.”
In setting a season-high score for the side, Old Students did appear to be playing closer to potential in the expanded format.
This creates an interesting juxtaposition, given McCabe’s outspoken opposition to the two-day system returning to the Cricket Shepparton calendar.
There is a tacit acknowledgement, though, that conditions that delayed the start of play on day one were starkly different to those that greeted the players Saturday, which was a concern McCabe based his position on.
“We rocked up last week and I remember Euroa got a lot of rain the night before, and it wasn’t a great wicket to bat on,” McCabe said.
“It might have been a different game if we’d batted on the first day because the pitch was completely different this week.
“It’s just unfortunate we had two very different conditions in two days.”
Old Students will suit up to host Central Park-St Brendan’s over the next fortnight in their final opportunity to string proper performances together before the festive break.
Euroa will go from one winless opponent to another in search of elusive success, making the trip north to face Karramomus.