North Geelong promises to go again after stunning GCA1 premiership win over East Belmont
The Magpies are chasing history after declaring they will keep pushing on as they close in on the greatest team in local cricket history.
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A stunning performance from North Geelong captain Tom Mathieson has lifted his team to a fourth consecutive GCA1 title after a gallant East Belmont fell 31 runs short in Saturday’s grand final.
Mathieson exploited the gripping Queens Park wicket to perfection, cutting a swath through the Lions batting on the way to a man-of-the-match-winning 5-26.
New-ball firebrand Dale Kerr (3-31) bowled with venom up top, removing the dangerous Shane McNamara without scoring before Mathieson took responsibility for his team’s fortunes in claiming the key scalps of Sean O’Neill (26), Josh Lacey (20) and Locky Inglis (1).
“We knew that if we could get Shane McNamara or Sean O’Neill early, we could squeeze them and take it deep,” Mathieson said.
“It was vital with Dale getting Shane in the first over and then us getting the ball to hoop around a bit.
“The outfield was fast, but we knew that they would have to take some risks because it wasn’t an easy wicket to bat on if we bowled our lines and lengths.”
The aggressive Ben Knight (20) and Dylan McMahon (22) were other Lions to get starts but it was left to Hayden McMahon to anchor the chase with a valiant 95-ball unbeaten 63.
“We knew the game wasn’t over until we got Hayden out,” Mathieson said.
“That was a really good knock as he was under pressure the whole innings.
“It says a lot about him; he’s a big game player and that was a very impressive innings.”
Invited to bat first, it was North Geelong’s opening-wicket aggression that once again paved the way to premiership success with Sam Hall (35) and Ned Cooper (37) combining for a 70-run opening stand before the former fell in the seventeenth over.
“It was an ideal start, we wanted a platform to be able to go at a run a ball,” Mathieson said.
“Although, it wasn’t an easy wicket to come in on and do that.”
East Belmont’s off-pace bowlers Josh Lacey (1-28) and James McMahon (0-12) slowed the scoring through the middle overs, while Ben Knight’s tight lines were rewarded with 2-31.
Despite the Lions working their way back into the contest, Blake Troy stabilised the innings with a poised 31 before a brisk unbroken 68-run sixth-wicket union between Andrew Fergusson (48 not out) and Dale Kerr (33 not out) propelled the Magpies to the ultimately unreachable 5-211.
“The partnership between Ferg (Fergusson) and Dale was the partnership that set us up,” Mathieson said.
“We felt that if we could get anywhere near 200, we could execute our plans with the ball on that wicket.
“That’s the selflessness of the group, Dale didn’t care where he batted through the season.
“To get four in a row with a young and still-hungry group is very exciting.”
‘We’re not done yet’: Magpies hungry for more
Champion North Geelong skipper Tom Mathieson has declared his team’s dynasty is “not done yet” after landing a fourth GCA1 title on the trot.
After holding off East Belmont on Saturday, The Magpies’ success now has them within striking distance of matching Newtown and Chilwell’s platinum era that saw the Two Blues claim six premierships from 1978-79 through to 1983-84.
“We’re not done yet, even the older boys are determined to get runs and wickets in big games,” Mathieson said.
“We’ll celebrate this hard. We want to be in the moment and enjoy the four flags, but you’ll find us back here.
“We’re not going anywhere.”
There may have been echoes of Tom Bagg’s monumental 5-43 in Mathieson’s man-of-the-match-winning 5-26, but the raw figures are where the similarities end.
Bagg, in just his tenth first XI game, drew on an element of surprise to steer his team to success in the 2020-21 grand final.
By contrast, the sense of anticipation could not have been starker for East Belmont as they lay in wait for the competition’s pre-eminent bowler only for Mathieson to turn in a phenomenal matchwinning performance to claim the coveted individual honour.
“It’s something that you always want to do, is to be a big game player,” the ecstatic Magpies’ captain said post-game.
“I knew my role was to get us going early and if I was able to get the ball swinging that would really set us up.
“To get Sean O’Neill and Josh Lacey was really important as they looked like they could really get going.”
The sense of expectation was well founded with Mathieson heading into the season’s decider with 33 wickets, at the extraordinarily frugal average of 8.4.
“The deck was gripping with my off-cutter and then the inswinger was going so I had the batsmen not sure what I was bowling,” Mathieson said.
“It was the same with Bagger (Tom Bagg) and Bob (Mitch Troy), every single bowler executed their plans and that’s all I wanted from them was to play their part and execute.
“East noticed that early too, as we saw them bowling off-spinner Luke Inglis who hadn’t bowled all season, so we knew that it would suit our spinners and myself with my changeups.”
North’s bowling too good, says Lions
East Belmont captain Shane McNamara has commended North Geelong’s blue-chip bowling unit for steering the Magpies to a fourth successive GCA1 title.
And he has vowed that his side would find the improvement necessary to challenge the competition benchmark.
“There’s no overlooking just how good their bowling performance was, with good tight lines, always keeping the pressure on and not giving anything away,” McNamara said post-game.
“Dale Kerr and Tom (Mathieson) were fantastic, while Ferg (Andrew Fergusson) was another who was able to bowl well.
“North was able to find those tight lines like they do, they really force you to earn your runs.”
A steady procession of wickets followed the third-ball loss of McNamara, widely acclaimed as the competition’s premier batsman following a season that produced 784 runs with four centuries.
“I thought that with our batting group and the confidence we took out of last week a total of 212 was an attainable chase,” McNamara said.
“Unfortunately, we just never got the momentum back from losing those early wickets.”
Despite slumping to 6-99 in the twenty-ninth over, the Lions’ chase was reignited when the McMahon twins, Hayden and Dylan joined forces for a composed 51-run stand.
“A lot of credit to Hayden and Dylan, it took a lot of character and determination to get us as close as they did,” McNamara said.
The Lions skipper also took solace in his own bowling unit’s capacity to reel the Magpies in after another lightning start from Sam Hall and Ned Cooper.
“They got out of the gates really quickly and our off-place blokes dragged it back, our effort in the field and from the bowlers was terrific,” McNamara said.
“The ball getting a bit wet with that early rain made it tough for the seamers but funnily enough helped our spinners. I don’t think it had much impact on the game.”
Despite palpable disappointment, McNamara was emphatic about the Lions aspirations.
“I spoke with (Lions coach) Chris Williams recently and we agreed there’s still so much improvement possible in this group,” he said.
“We can never doubt the commitment of this group, it’s second to none.
“As disappointing as this moment is, what we’re holding onto is that there’s still a lot for this group to give and we’re determined to be back here again.”
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