It was a special day for Mooroopna Cricket Club on Saturday, as the club clinched Cricket Shepparton grand final victories in all three grades its sides competed in.
An enthralling A-grade decider saw the Cats defend 127 against a run-happy Kyabram, B-grade clinched a thrilling come-from-behind win against Northerners, while D-grade secured a 26-run victory over Pine Lodge.
The club’s other two sides also showed strength this season, with the C and E-grade sides bowing out in the semi-finals.
The club added a 10th Haisman Shield, 14th Clyde Young Shield and 18th SJ Perry Shield to a jam-packed trophy cabinet.
President Aaron DiFede said Saturday’s wins were the result of hard work from everyone involved at the club over a number of years.
“All five teams made finals which was huge, unfortunately C and E-grade went down last week, but to have three make it to the granny and get the win was just massive,” he said.
“We’re all volunteers and I can’t speak highly enough of the executive, it just comes down to the work from everyone, from the committee down to the players, everyone does their role.”
The Cats’ Haisman Shield win sees the club take back-to-back premierships for the first time in more than 30 years.
And the three wins across the board a feat not achieved since the 1987-88 season, when Mooroopna again claimed premierships in A, B and D-grade.
A-grade captain Sam O’Brien said a familiarity among the group at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve had fostered a greater togetherness in the A-grade side and throughout the club as a whole.
“It’s a fantastic effort, our group of boys are pretty similar to last year with a few ins, but our core of our top 20 players have really bonded and really got together this season,” he said.
“We’re pretty lucky obviously with winning first, seconds and fourths, so it shows the position of where the club is at and how well we’re going.”