VTCA: Local cricket’s tightest ladder? How final round could play out

Altona North claimed the VTCA T20 title on Tuesday night thanks to a brilliant last ball six from its skipper. He breaks down the moment and the influence of a star teammate.

Altona North claimed the VTCA T20 title on Tuesday night.

As the final ball of the VTCA’s T20 final hit Connor Smith’s bat, he always felt it was going for six to give Altona North an upset win over Deer Park.

In a battle of the Division 1 premiership contender and competition powerhouse, it was Smith’s six which handed North the title.

The skipper had successfully helped his side chase down Deer Park’s 8-109 as Aaron Shellie top scored with 32 off 48.

After running a two on the penultimate ball, Smith said he always felt confident.

“It was the perfect ball for me, I always back myself as a big hitter,” Smith said.

“If it didn’t happen, I knew we would have given it our best shot. But once it hit the bat, I knew it was going for six, it was straight out of the middle.

“We had played Sydenham-Hillside and Yarraville Club in the previous rounds but we knew Deer Park was going to be the hardest game yet.”

Blimey. How good is this? Altona North's Connor Smith whacks the last ball of the match for six to give his team victory over Deer Park in their T20 last night. Thanks for the alert @hilly_michaelpic.twitter.com/zvhsQlaswP

— Paul Amy (@PaulAmy375) February 26, 2025

Mid-season recruit and English import Tom Taylor was again an influential figure in the result with a brilliant all-round performance.

He finished with 3-30 off four overs, a catch and scored 46 runs off 49 balls.

“Tommy has been great,” Smith said.

“It’s not just about what he’s bringing with the bat and ball himself. He’s really helped the seam bowlers with their plans.

“Having him in the team has given everyone a real confidence boost.”

North will now look to lock away top spot and the minor premiership in Division 1 when they return to action on Saturday.
Their final home-and-away game will see them take on second place Altona Roosters.

“We want the same standards we’ve set in the T20 competition,” Smith said.

“We’ve got a bit of confidence at the moment and hopefully we can carry it forward.”

WEEKEND REVIEW

The penultimate round of the Victorian Turf Cricket Association season threw up plenty of important results.

Here’s how everything is shaping across every division.

TIGHT AT THE TOP

There’s one game remaining the VTCA Senior Division season and, incredibly, nine out of 10 teams are still in the hunt. While Yarraville Club and reigning premier Deer Park have distanced themselves at the top of the pack, seven teams are battling for the final two semi-final spots. A loss to Westmeadows has put the heat on last year’s grand finalist Sydenham-Hillside. The Storm sit on 39 points, six points ahead of fourth-placed Airport West St Christophers and fifth-placed St Albans and they host Keilor in the season-ending one-dayer at Hillside Reserve. Airport West holds fourth on percentage ahead of St Albans, the Saints travel to Westmeadows, while the Saints (that’s a bit confusing) travel to last-placed Sunshine United for the final game. The pair will be desperate for victory with five more teams locked on 27 points, six points behind. Westmeadows, Craigieburn, Aberfeldie and Keilor are all still in the hunt if both Airport West and St Albans lose. Craigieburn and Aberfeldie face the difficult task of beating Yarraville Club and Deer Park respectively. Five teams remain in contention in Division 1 and 2 and six in Division 3 and 4, while the top-four is set in Division 5.

GRAND FINAL SET

Aberfeldie and Maribyrnong Park St Mary’s will battle it out for the VTCA Women’s premiership on Sunday. After finishing fourth, Abers avenged last year’s semi-final defeat to minor premier Caroline Springs by knocking out the reigning premier by 37 runs at Town Centre Reserve. Abigail Burns was the hero for Aberfeldie, scoring 16 at the top of the order before snaring 4-11 with the ball. Batting first, Abers posted 7-89 in its 20 overs. Molly McVeigh top-scoring with 24. Mariam Hussain led the way for Caroline Springs with the ball, claiming 4-15. However, the Falcons’ batting collapsed. My Yen Au played a lone-hand at the top of the order, scoring 26 - the next best score was six - as Caroline Springs was held to 9-52. Meanwhile, at Sewell Reserve, Maribyrnong Park pipped Glenroy by four wickets. Ashley Angus’ 36 helped Glenroy post 5-76. In the chase, the Lions fell to 2-5 before Zoe Pederen (18) and Nat Egan (14) steadied the ship. It was again looking shakey at 6-45 when Egan fell but Shelly Lampard (10 not out) and Mary Evans (19 not out) guided the team to victory with three overs to spare.

OUTRIGHT NEAR MISS

Both St Albans and Craigieburn came agonisingly close to a critical outright victory on Saturday in one of the top matches of the VTCA season. After almost 140 overs, the Saints were just one wicket away from 10 points, while the Eagles were only nine runs off a stunning reverse outright win. In the end, St Albans took the six points with a 87-run first-innings win. Sent in at Kings Park, the home team posted 147 all out thanks to Arosh Janoda’s 58. Ben Radford claiming 4-44 with the ball. Craigieburn then collapsed spectacularly with the bat, skittled for just 60 Akila Isanka snared 5-22. The Saints looked for quick runs but Radford had other ideas. He bowled Sammika Perera first ball of the second innings and had fellow opener John Moon also out for a duck before removing Janoda for just three to have St Albans 3-4. The Saints ended up declaring 6-68, 155 runs in front. Craigieburn’s top order folded for the second time, collapsing to 5-34. However, skipper Sam Laffan (42) and Chathura Patabedige (45) made a 85-run stand to give the visitors hope. Isanka broke the partnership, removing Patabedige and took two more quick wickets to put the Saints back in the box seat but last-wicket pair Chameera Perera and James Portou held on. Isanka finished with another 5-62 to take 10 wickets for the match, the haul taking him to 37 wickets for the season - second most in the competition.

DORIC, LAKSHITHA POWER CLUBBERS

A second straight five-wicket haul for Matt Doric and a match-winning half-century from Viraj Lakshitha guided Yarraville Club to a five-wicket win over potential semi-final opponent Airport West St Christophers at Etzel Street Reserve on Saturday. Batting first, several Airport West bats made starts but couldn’t go on with the job. Ranga Cooray top-scored with 40, while Sachin Awishka added 38 as the home side posted 9-204. After a match-winning five-fa last week, Doric backed up his performance with another 5-76, to take his season tally to 27 scalps for the season - fifth on the competition wicket-taker charts. Skipper Mitch Johnstone snared 3-74, taking him to 33 and fourth in the competition. Clubbers then set about tracking the runs down, James Damjanovski (45) and Michael Hill (44) set the foundation and Lakshitha (53 not out) finished the job. The knock took Hill past the 650-run barrier for the season, comfortably No.1 in the division.

Mitch Johnstone delivers a ball. Picture: Andrew Batsch

AHMAD’S SENSATIONAL SEVEN

Fawad Ahmad is simply a cut above. The former international spinner, destroyed Keilor at Joe Brown Reserve last week. The Deer Park gun claimed 7-41 off an epic 26 overs - and got a run out - to set up a comfortable eight-wicket win on Saturday. The impressive haul takes him to an incredible 40 wickets for the season at an average of just 10.08. Rob and Jarryd Clements (43 and 36) and Matt Gaskett (24) had given Keilor a strong start but were 172 all out. Aaron Shellie (41) and Angelo Emmanuel made a 87-run opening stand. Emmanuel would top-score with 79 not out as the Lions finished the job in 36 overs.

WARRIORS STUN STORM

Westmeadows kept its Senior Division finals hopes alive with a thrilling three-wicket win over Sydenham-Hillside in a rain-shortened one-dayer at Hillside Reserve. Storm captain Anthony Alleyne (63) and Gayan Weerasekara (41) helped the home team post 176 all out in 39.2 overs. Warriors skipper Donovan Pell taking 3-31. The Westmeadows star then led the chase with an impressive 55 from 66 balls. The visitors looked on track before losing 3-2 to fall to 6-135 but Pathum De Mel (24 not out) steadied the ship and steered the Warriors home with 11 balls to spare.

DRUIDS JUMP OUT OF RELEGATION ZONE

Druids received a massive boost to its hopes of survival in Division 1 with a 77-run win over PEGS which saw their opponents fall to the bottom of the ladder. An unbeaten half-century to Declan Clerkin on day one, 60 off 40, led the home side to 5-259 before proving damaging with the ball on day two. Subhan Ramzan was the pick of the bowlers after finishing with 4-56 as the visitors were all out for 182 as opener Omar Phillips top scored with 74 off 90.

THREE CAN’T GO INTO TWO

Altona North and Altona Roosters are already locked away in the top-two of the Division 1 ladder but the last two finals spots remain up for grabs. Sunshine and Doutta Stars are locked on 39 points each while Seddon is in fifth on 33. Doutta Stars claimed a 65-run win over Sunshine over the weekend on the back of a brilliant six-wicket haul from Jurgen Andersen. Seddon kept their own hopes alive after getting the better of Footscray United.

Doutta Stars picked up a crucial win. Picture: Andrew Batsch

GOULDING HAT-TRICK HEROICS

It will be a day long remembered by Peter Goulding and the West Coburg St Andrews faithful. The Redbacks’ paceman claimed a dramatic hat-trick to destroy Sunbury and help secure a 94-run win at Morris Reserve. In just the third over of the day on Saturday, Goulding bowled Sunbury captain Ashan Ranaweera then had Indika Massalage caught behind next ball before securing his hat-trick by castling Jacob Caruana to trigger wild celebrations. Goulding would finish with 3-12 from his five overs, overshadowing Rishi Desai’s tremendous 5-19. Earlier, Harsha De Silva top-scored with 56 to help West Coburg post 6-192 before Sunbury were skittled for 92.

MORE WICKETS FOR DE ZILVA

Anthony De Zilva is a verified wicket-taking machine. Already with 50 wickets for the season, the Maribyrnong Park St Mary’s gun snared another 5-45 on Saturday to help the Lions claim a 27-run win over Williamstown CYMS. De Zilva now has 55 scalps at an incredible average of 8.4, taking seven five-wicket hauls - including a best of 7-17 in a match he took 13 poles. Sam Evans’ 43 helped Maribyrnong Park post 9-160 after being sent in at Maribyrnong Park last week. CYMS then looked to be cruising at 2-97 with Matt Allsop (41) and Bill Millar (39) at the crease. However, Cameron Sturrock (3-34) removed them both and De Silva ripped through the bottom order as the visitors lost 8-36. The win keeps the Lions in fourth place, five points ahead of Newport-Digman, with a clash against ladder-leader and potential semi-final opponent Williamstown Imperials in the final round.

HOLDEN FIRES GRAND

A terrific all-round performance from Kyle Holden inspired Grand United’s 79-run win over West Newport at Loft Reserve on Saturday. In a rain-shortened one-dayer, Grand posted an imposing 6-206 from its 40 overs. Holden led the way with 69 runs from 87 deliveries, while Jack Holloway (30) and Hashan James (44) made strong contributions. West Newport were never in the hunt in the chase, falling to 2-3 early. Holden finished with team-leading figures of 3-37 as six of seven bowlers picked up a wicket. The win locks Grand into third place and ends West’s hopes of a semi-final.

Grand United picked up a crucial win. Picture: Andrew Batsch

WHAT A FINISH AWAITS IN DIVISION 3

Strap yourself in if you’re involved in a Division 3 club because you’re going to be searching for the results come the end of Saturday night. As it stands Caroline Springs, Point Cook Centrals and Moonee Valley are all locked on 45 points in the race for the top position with Gellibrand on 39 in fourth. Just behind them is Kingsville and Pascoe Vale on 33. All six of those teams remain in the hunt for finals.

At the other end of the ladder, there’s going to be some desperate calculations in the relegation battle. Keilor Park would feel safest on 27 points but is just ahead of Point Cook, East Keilor and Sunshine Heights in hoping to avoid the drop. The latter trio are all on 21 points with two wins.

Fixtures: Pascoe Vale Hadfield v Point Cook; Keilor Park v East Keilor; Sunshine Heights v Moonee Valley; Point Cook Centrals v Kingsville; Caroline Springs v Gellibrand

EAST COBURG SETS UP STUNNING FINISH

East Coburg’s six-wicket win over Seabrook meant so much heading into the final round of the season. They now sit fourth, ahead of the weekend’s opponents on net run rate. East prevailed after bowling their hosts out for 121 before cruising to the finishing line.

Elsewhere, Werribee Centrals kept up its hopes of a top-four finish with an outright win over last placed St Andrew’s Footscray who need a minor miracle to avoid the drop. Centrals are six points back heading into next weekend.

CAN PASCOE VALE CENTRAL COMPLETE HISTORIC INTRODUCTION?

New to the competition at the start of the season and now Pascoe Vale Central is on the brink of going through the home-and-away campaign unbeaten. Their record sits at 8-0 after a six-wicket win over fellow finals bound side Barkly Street Uniting. Julian Powell hit an unbeaten half-century as the home side was rolled for 123 before Central got home behind a half-century from Paul Tripp with Brad Fawcus unbeaten on 48.