Cricket Southern Bayside 2018-19: Cheltenham beats Port Melbourne to win first flag in 11 years
From worst to first…Cheltenham completed one of cricket’s great fightbacks on the weekend when it defeated Port Melbourne to claim the Cricket Southern Bayside Division 2 flag.
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From worst to first…Cheltenham completed one of cricket’s great fightbacks on the weekend when it defeated Port Melbourne to claim the Cricket Southern Bayside Division 2 flag.
And the win was dedicated to the team’s regular spinner Mark Ryan, who was seriously injured in a car accident in January.
Twelve months after being relegated from Division 1, Chelt hit back with a vengeance to win their first premiership in 11 years.
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Swing bowler Stacy Brown took match figures of 9-63 as Cheltenham flattened Port Melbourne for 86 and 80 at Jack Barker Oval. Scott Neeson, with six wickets for the game, also played a starring role.
After routing Port in 36 overs on Saturday, Cheltenham made 112, with opener Nick Ellery (36) and Jed Donnell (30) showing the way. But Chelt missed a chance to completely shut Port out of the game when they lost 8-16 to go from 2-96 to 112 all out.
On Sunday, Brown and Neeson again ripped through the Port Melbourne batting, with the help of Simon Donnell (3-7).
With one hand on the premiership cup, Chelt hit 3-55 — Ellery making 34 — to win outright.
Club president David Sell said there tears after the game for the popular Ryan, who was in a coma for a month and is still in hospital after a car accident.
“They played with that hanging over their heads as well,’’ Sell said.
“On Sunday night there were few tears because he would have been first-change bowler.
“They’ve had his guernsey hanging up in the rooms and we haven’t lost a game since.’’
Cheltenham won only one game last season but got on a roll this season, winning seven on the bounce to hoist the flag.
Chelt’s last flag was the VTCA South A1 title in 2007-08.
Cheltenham’s premiership team: Travis Woolnough (captain), Stacy Brown, Nick Ellery, Daniel Griffin, Jed Donnell, Simon Donnell, Tinus Els, Nile Mortimer, Dom Gowers, Trevor Batchelor, Scott Neeson.
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