Deer Park could create a slice of history after surging into the VTCA Senior Division grand final

While Haig Fawkner’s off-field battles will continue, it’s on-field season is over after a stunning performance by Deer Park earnt the Lions a shot at back-to-back flags.

Deer Park is within reach of a historic back-to-back premiership.

The Lions surged into the VTCA Senior Division grand final with a stunning 101-run upset win over reigning premier and red-hot favourite Haig Fawkner on Sunday.

They will face Yarraville Club in the decider at Hansen Reserve this weekend.

While records pre-2000-01 are scratchy, Deer Park could conceivably be the first club ever to win promotion to Senior Division and claim the premiership in its first season.

“I don’t think any club has done it before, to come up to Senior Division and win it,” Lions coach Mick Andriadis said.

“It would be great but at the end of the day, we just want to play the best cricket we can and at times we’ve played some fantastic cricket. I just want to see us at our best.”

It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for Deer Park.

The Lions only secured their finals spot in the final match of the home-and-away season thanks to an outright victory saw them leap from eighth to fourth.

They then had to wait an extra week due to Haig Fawkner’s ongoing court battle against the VTCA over ball tampering suspensions.

Haig was able to field the five players under a temporary injunction from the magistrate’s court but had no answers for a Deer Park side in full flight.

Fawad Malook was the Lions’ hero, hitting 53 before taking a match-winning 5-36 with the ball.

Haig Fawkner will rue the decision to send Deer Park in after winning the toss.

The Lions amassed 9-280 thanks to half-centuries from Malook and Mohammed Alfar (54) and critical contributions from Hashan Wanasekara (49) and James Leach (45).

Facing a difficult chase, Haig were cruising at 1-92 with Viraj Lakshitha (53) and Shakeel Ahmad (38) at the crease before Ahmed fell, triggering a 4-8 collapse.

Charith Mendis (47) and Aziz Ullah (17) steadied the ship with a 51-run partnership but another 5-28 collapse ended Haig’s back-to-back hopes.

“I’m rapt for the boys after what we had to put up with during the week,” Andriatis said.

“As our president said, we had nothing to lose, we just needed to get out there and play cricket – which we did.

“Having 280 on the board was a big plus and then defending it – I was a bit worried at one stage when it went from 1-10 to 50 then 70 and 90 – but the boys turned it around.

“Catching and fielding played a big part in this game, I think we dropped one and they might have dropped four or five and a missed stumping.

“Fawad dropped a catch off another bloke to make sure he could get his five-for, that was well planned by him.”

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Deer Park won its only meeting with Yarraville Club this season, securing a seven-wicket win at Hansen Reserve in December.

Chinthaka Jayasinghe (56) and Sangaran Nandhalal (52) scored half-centuries for the Clubbers but Ricky Suvada was the star with a dominant 118 not out to guide the Lions home, chasing down 173 with 15 overs to spare.

“We expect a tight game and like a lot of grand finals, it’s going to be little battles between individuals on the ground and whoever gets the best of that will put their side in a good position,” Andriatis said.

In the Second XI grand final, Aberfeldie claimed the flag with a 42-run win over Aberfeldie.