A century 15 seasons in the making for Williamstown CYMS’ Angus Groen

He’s been a loyal Williamstown CYMS player since under-11s and on Saturday Angus Groen brought up a long-awaited maiden century.

It’s a century 15 seasons in the making.

Williamstown CYMS opener Angus Groen celebrated a long-awaited maiden hundred on Saturday, smashing 114 against Keilor Park.

It was just reward for one of CYMS most loyal servants, having first played for the club in 2008-09 in the under-11s.

Groen’s previous best score was 53 not out for the Second XI in 2016-17 and takes him to a career-best 233 runs for the VTCA Division 2 season.

The 224-ball knock included nine boundaries as Groen spent almost three hours at the crease.

CYMS skipper Keiran Gray said the whole club was thrilled.

“I think he was more surprised than anyone when he got the hundred,” Gray said.

“He said his highest score before Saturday was a 50 in a Second XI game but he’s been working hard in the nets and hitting them cleanly all year but hasn’t got the results.

“They bowled really well and set some good fields but he worked his way through it.

“He was hitting the ball really cleanly so it was only a matter of time before he started finding the gaps and he was able to stay in and take advantage of it.

“He’s been wicketkeeping unbelievably well this season as well, one transfers to the other sometimes.

“Everyone got around him and there’s a few videos going around and everyone was up and about that night, which was a good feeling around the club.”

Groen’s breakthrough ton saw Williamstown CYMS post a strong 6-287 on day one of their final round clash against Keilor Park.

Gray added a well-made 55, combing with Groen for a 139-run second wicket stand, while Jarion Hoyte scored 44 in a 42-run partnership before Groen’s dig came to an end.

Kieren Gray during this time at Aberfeldie. Picture: Hamish Blair

“I’ve had a few starts this year but it was good to be out there with Angus when he got his hundred, I managed to hang on long enough and celebrate with him,” Gray said.

After reaching the Division 2 semi-finals last season, it’s been a difficult campaign for CYMS.

The club has won just four games but knocked off last season’s grand finalist Newport-Digman in the previous round.

Gray said the club had undergone some major changes in the off-season and was blooding plenty of youngsters as it looked to the future.

“We’ve had a big turnover of players and had 20 players come through the Firsts,” he said.

“It’s been a struggle to get that consistency but the plus side is we’ve been able to get some games into some young guys and have a look at the future.

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“There’s plenty of young guys and it looks like the Seconds are going to play finals, there’s a few 16 and 17-year-olds in there.

“We had a couple of disappointing results straight after Christmas but we’ve been improving, Altona Roosters we were really competitive against and we managed to knock off Newport-Digman last week and hopefully we’ve got enough runs to defend this week.”

The Division 2 top-four is set with Footscray United, Altona Roosters, St Andrews Pascoe Vale and West Newport set to fight it out for the premiership and promotion.

At the other end of the table, Kingsville is assured of relegation.