The stories behind VTCA Division 3, 4, 5 grand final success

Back-to-back promotions for Gellibrand, Melton South claim Division 4 and Pascoe Vale Central’s historic season. Here’s the stories behind the VTCA Division 3-5 grand finals.

Gellibrand proved too good for Moonee Valley in Division 3.

The Victorian Turf Cricket Association’s grand finals reached a thrilling conclusion across the weekend.

Here’s the stories behind the Division 3, 4 and 5 successes.

DIVISION 3 – GELLIBRAND

The feeling of securing back-to-back promotions is still sinking in at Gellibrand.

After claiming Division 4 last summer, Gellibrand climbed to the top of the Division 3 mountain in remarkable fashion.

The club only just snuck into the top-four and thought they were the “underdog” heading into the finals series.

After stunning minor premier Caroline Springs in week one, Gellibrand went onto secure a three-wicket win over Moonee Valley in the decider.

There were plenty of nervous moments with the game played over two weekends due to Melbourne’s rain.

“We obviously had the downpour last Sunday then during the week we had more rain and there was the worry whether we would get out there for a result,” Gellibrand president Mark Keating said.

“It was a funny old season, we won our first four games then had a period where we were up and down with our form.

“Once we knew we were in the fop-four, we gave ourselves a chance because the guys had been here before.”

As Keating said, in both finals Gellibrand was under the pump in its run chase until star all-rounder Paul Hetherington rescued his side.

He took 3-29 to help restrict Moonee Valley to 157 all out before a 37 not out lifted his side into the VTCA’s third tier.

At 6-95, he shared a crucial 48-run partnership with Suraj Weerasinghe to provide a platform to finish the job.

“A really deserving player of the match,” Keating said.

“He’s had an outstanding season and really steered us home. To perform under that sort of pressure in two games says a lot about his ability.

“Jacob MacDonald hit 46 and put us in a good position as well after we lost two early wickets.”

Ahead of promotion to Division 2, Keating said the club is now looking forward to the challenge.

“We came into Division 3 wanting to be competitive and it will be the same again,” he said.

“There’s an opportunity to renew some old rivalries against teams from the former Williamstown District competition.”

DIVISION 4 - MELTON SOUTH

It wasn’t the way Melton South wanted to win, it wasn’t the way it wanted to mark a historic occasion.

A wet pitch at Melton Recreation Reserve forced the VTCA Division 4 grand final to be abandoned on Saturday. handing the Royals the Clark Shield premiership.

It’s the club’s first senior flag since 2010-11 and its first VTCA title since coming across from the Williamstown District association in 2015-16.

Melton South coach Blake Ivory was disappointed in the finish but believed the premiership was deserved.

“It wasn’t the way we wanted to win with the wicket the way it was,” Ivory said.

“But we think it’s just desserts for our season, we’ve beaten everybody except for one side.

“I know East Coburg would be pretty disappointed with how it turned out.

“We had a lot of rain on Thursday and the wicket just didn’t dry enough, it was quite soft.

“There was a spot on the wicket that was causing a few issues and it wasn’t safe, so the umpires decided to call it off.”

The Royals had made 171 all out on day one last week before rain washed out the Sunday.

Rain during the week then ruined the reserve day as East Coburg fell to 4-19 in 12 overs before the umpires called the game off.

After being sent in, Melton South was in strife at 5-82 before Dean Pirro took control.

The No.7 hit a critical 44 from 75 balls, including five boundaries and a six, to turn the innings around and help the club post a defendable total.

It saw him awarded the man-of-the-match medal.

Ivory and Leigh Edwards both scored 33, while Anthony Yates added 26.

It was great for Dean, he hasn’t had the best of years,” Ivory said.

“He stood up when it mattered, we were all very pleased for him, he scored some really important runs late last week.

“It could have gone either way, we could have been bowled out for 120 but he stood up and got us to a good total.”

A total Ivory was confident his team could have defended if the weather hadn’t intervened.

“We were (confident), our home ground is fairly hard to score on,” he said.

“The wicket is never batting conducive, so we were confident in our bowlers, we would have liked 20 or 30 more runs but we were confident in our ability.

“Saman (Muthuwadige), Keshara (Lakshan) and Praveen (De Silva) have been standout bowlers this year and Saman has taken over 50 wickets.

For East Coburg, Harsh Shah led the way with the ball, snaring 4-41.

Muthuwadige took 3-6 before the game was called off to take his season tally to an even 50.

Melton South is now looking to establish itself in Division 3.

The club spent many years in Division 5 before a league restructure saw it promoted for the 2023-24 season.

Ivory said the club had come a long way and was looking to keep building.

“We had quite a few years in Division 5 but, we didn’t win a premiership, we went up when some teams pulled out,” he said.

“We’ve been really competitive since, this is our third season and to win the flag is fantastic.

“We’re rapt with how the club is going, we didn’t have juniors four years ago and now we’ve got lots of teams, we’re progressing through the grades and pretty healty on and off the field.

“We feel like this is reward for all that work.”

DIVISION 5 - PASCOE VALE CENTRAL

Pascoe Vale Central’s premiership is more than about earning promotion in their first VTCA season.

The club has been forced to learn new skills after previously played on synthetic pitches in the North West Metro Cricket Association.

Central capped off a historic season with a dominant five-wicket win over Barkly St Uniting in the Division 5 decider.

Moving into a new competition wasn’t the club’s only challenge this season, they were forced to relocate home grounds as they wait for a turf wicket to be installed at Oak Park.

Instead they shared Sewell Reserve with Glenroy.

“To go from synthetic to turf and have the First and Second XIs win premiership is a massive result for our club,” head coach Ian Hare said.

“There’s so much extra work which goes into playing in these conditions but it’s been a fantastic transition for us.

“You need someone to go and pull the covers off at 7am on a Saturday and during the week, people might need to head out there once it starts raining.

“The players did a terrific job to reach these goals but it’s taken a whole club effort for us to get there.

“It will be great to get back out on our home ground next year and test ourselves in Division 4.”

Central came away with the win after rolling the Dragons for 103 on day one as Paul Tripp led the way with 4-29 whole David Tripps and Nathaniel Biggs were the other multiple wicket takers.

They reached stumps on day one at 1-19 before Brad Fawcus capped is brilliant season with 47 not out off 127 balls, including hitting the winning runs.

He finished as the competition’s leading run scorer with 463 at an average of 57.88.

“He’s one of four guys who came across from Gladstone Park who we beat in the grand final last season,” Hare said.

“He’s been great for us. Throughout the year, he’s just applied himself and got rewarded with some good scores.

“He has the ability to spend a lot of time at the crease which is what you’ve got to do on turf.”