It wasn’t meant to be for Mooroopna this Haisman Shield season.
Despite finishing in second place on the ladder and being the only team to defeat Waaia this season, which finished in first, the Cats couldn’t get it done in the grand final against a talented Kyabram.
While the result didn’t go Mooroopna’s way, it doesn’t mean the Cats went down without a fight, as they started the match in impressive fashion, restricting Kyabram to 159.
But then disaster struck for the Cats with a 6-34 collapse just before stumps on day one, all but ruling them out of the match, eventually being bowled out for 110.
Mooroopna captain Jack Gaskill felt deflated after the match, conceding Kyabram was the far better side for both days’ play.
“To restrict them to only 160, we felt we were in with a massive chance, but obviously not to be,” he said.
“The game was lost in that 23-over period (before stumps); we just got a little bit scared of losing our wicket.
“I think they bowled very well; they put it in the right areas. The pressure, you’re trying to just survive, you’re not looking to score, and that’s how you get out.
“Losing a granny after playing all year and only losing three games is pretty disheartening, but congrats to Ky as they did a fantastic job over the two days. Batting and bowling, they were by far the better team.”
Heading into the second day’s play, the match had the potential to be finished in a couple of overs, but the grit shown by Cats lower-order batters Brodie McDonald (47 runs off 150 balls) and Nick Breslin (17 off 137) to not give their wicket away was a sign of Mooroopna’s resilience this season, according to Gaskill.
“I’d say the positives are we started the season with 11 players, and we ended up going through 23 players through injury, people can’t commit, and so I think that is the positive to come out of the season is that we overcame all of those problems,” he said.
“Injury or whatever, and we got to this point of the season and we are still going and we still have a quarter of the blokes that we were playing at the start of the season.
“From going 6-34 and then we didn’t lose a wicket in that first session and then Brodie McDonald and Nick Breslin were fantastic.
“I think they both faced 25 overs each. They really tried setting it up for us, but obviously, it wasn’t to be.”