Elliott bag sets up Demons for season-steadying win

Kieran Elliott, Fergus O’Neill and Blake Thomson played key roles as Melbourne ended its run of losses.

Five wickets: Melbourne bowler Kieran Elliott. Picture: Valeriu Campan

There was a five-wicket haul for Kieran Elliot, another vital innings from Blake Thomson and a first half-century for Fergus O’Neill.

And there was a first win in 2021 for Melbourne.

The Demons had suffered three consecutive losses since the Christmas break and to snap their run of outs they had to overcome St Kilda, always a formidable opponent at the Junction Oval, on Tuesday.

Easier uttered than accomplished. They did it comfortably in the end after hustling out the Saints for 127 in 34.4 overs, achieving victory with five wickets to spare.

But they had been 4-36 after Meyrick Buchanan, Jack Harper and Andre de Lange took dips in the duck pond and young Campbell Kellaway was dismissed for 11.

Dropped at gully, acting captain Thomson relished a reprieve and with O’Neill put on 86 to give Melbourne a season-steadying, confidence-restoring victory.

Class act: Melbourne’s Blake Thomson.

O’Neill is more known for his swing bowling but his batting is coming along and Demons coach Ben Vague is happy to put him in the all-rounder class.

“Absolutely. He’s got so much skill and talent with the bat,’’ Vague said.

“It looked like he was playing a different game to everyone else. Did it incredibly easy. It was a break-out innings for ‘Ferg’, for sure.’’

O’Neill’s 50 came off 70 balls and was spiced with 2 sixes and 3 fours.

Thomson was unbeaten on 56, off 83 deliveries and with 7 fours.

He now has 394 runs at 65.7 this season, putting him fourth on the run list, behind Mark Phelan, Tom Rogers and Eamonn Vines.

“I’ve never seen a captain with so much will to win for his team,’’ Vague said of Thomson.

“He showed great leadership once again, just scrapped and fought to make sure we got over the line.’’

Medium pacer Elliott, unsung but not to be underestimated, took his best figures in Premier Cricket, 5-11 off 6.4 overs, benefiting from a seam that lifted owing to the wet outfield.

Vague was rapt for his right-armer.

“One of the hardest workers at the club, does everything to get the most out of his ability,’’ he said.

“With that super seam, he was almost unplayable, the ball was moving that much. He deserved those five wickets. He’s been working his arse off all year for us.’’

Vague said it was a crucial match for the Demons.

“We’d played good cricket in patches without winning,’’ he said.

“We had Frankston Peninsula 7-97, so a winning position there. I thought we were in a really good position against Prahran in the run chase. We were outplayed against Essendon.

“We hadn’t won this year so, yeah, we had to get back to winning, and to do it like that, against a quality side like St Kilda, was huge for our group.’’

Reinforcements are on the way for Melbourne this Saturday in the form of Big Bash trio Sam Harper, Seb Gotch and Jack Prestwidge.

Captain Cameron White and possibly Will Pucovski will be available for the following round.