Elliot Brandon-Jones notches maiden Premier First XI century
Set a daunting run chase, Northcote claimed a critical Premier Cricket victory over Footscray on the back of opener Elliot Brandon-Jones’ maiden First XI century.
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Elliot Brandon-Jones’ maiden Premier Cricket First XI century guided Northcote to a critical six-wicket win over Footscray on Saturday.
The young star mixed patience with power on his way to 127 from 177 balls at Merv Hughes Oval, clubbing 14 boundaries and a six.
The Dragons faced a daunting chase, needing to run down the Bulldogs’ 9-305dec in the two-day clash.
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However, Brandon-Jones and Josh Sundberg (63) came together for a match-defining 147-run second-wicket stand before Matt Short (60 not out) and Max O’Sullivan (34 not out) finished the job inside 75 overs.
“Against a good opposition, a team we have a lot of respect for, to chase down 305 in the manner we did was fantastic,” Northcote coach Steve Taylor said.
“(Brandon-Jones) was huge. He’s shown for a long time the potential and the talent was there, everyone was so happy for him.
“Hopefully that’s the major innings he needs to cement his spot and hopefully that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“It wasn’t that long ago he was batting at No.3 for the Victoria under-19s — there’s no doubt about his talent.”
Footscray had threatened to post a mammoth total on day one before young spinner Joe Medew-Ewen claimed four of the Dogs’ top five, including the key wickets of Travis Dean (63), Dean Russ (8) and Daniel Sartori (23).
Medew-Ewen’s haul of 5-70 lifted him to equal 11th on the list of leading Premier wicket-takers.
Josh Sundberg and Mark Phelan are both in the top-10 run-scorers after seven games.
Northcote (3-1-3) sits a point outside the top eight with two games remaining before the Christmas break, starting with Geelong away from home.
“We’ve lost some tight ones, we’ve won a tight one. I said after the game it’s important we acknowledge the things we do well,” Taylor said.
“We had a disappointing defeat against Greenvale a couple of weeks ago, but to bounce back against Footscray shows the group we can do it.
“There’s two games left before Christmas, so it’s a really important four weeks for us.”
Following the two-day clash against Geelong, the Dragons face Monash Tigers at Bill Lawry Oval in their final game of 2019.