St Bernard’s games record broken, Luke Davis stars in game No.250
It was a day of milestones for St Bernard’s on Saturday with the club’s games record broken in the Third XI and the First XI claiming a critical victory.
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St Bernard’s captain Luke Davis starred in his 250th match to help deliver a critical VSDCA win on a day of milestones for the Snowdogs.
The club’s games record was broken by former president Anthony Jordan when he stepped out for his 317th appearance, surpassing Jack Serrano’s previous mark.
Jordan debuted in 1990, is a five-time premiership player and already owns the club runs record with 7076.
Sadly St Bernard’s Third XI couldn’t get the chocolates for Jordan, who made three in his milestone match.
Reigning club champion Davis could one day break Jordan’s record but only had eyes for Yarraville on Saturday.
The star paceman claimed 4-11 in seven overs to move up to third outright on the Snowdogs all-time wicket-takers list with 410.
“It’s an excellent achievement and he’s just gone from strength to strength,” St Bernard’s coach Nigel Freebairn said.
“He’s very well respected around the club, really passionate about the club and still performing at a very high level.”
Yarraville were dismissed for 139, James Davey claiming 3-24 in his 150th club game, as only Josh Hahnel provided any resistance with 66.
Tristan Kassis cracked an unbeaten 58 at the top of the order to make light work of St Bernard’s chase.
Luke Marinelli and Daniel O’Connell both contributed 34 as the Snowdogs wrapped up an eight-wicket win with 10 overs to spare.
It was a major reversal after the two team’s pre-season clash.
“They gave us a good lesson in the pre-season, from memory they might have beaten us by about 130 runs,” Freebairn said.
“We went into the game with a bit of trepidation but we were able to turn the tables when it mattered.
“It was a really clinical performance and shades of our best that we captured regularly last season.
“The bowling unit bowled with discipline, didn’t give too many free hits, and we re-jigged the batting line-up to cover some slow starts and it turned out to be a masterstroke.”
However, the win did come at a cost with spearhead Aaron Smillie suffering a side strain and is expected to miss several weeks.
The result lifts St Bernard’s to eighth on the VSDCA North-West ladder, nine points behind Werribee in sixth.
The Snowdogs travel to Ivanhoe on Saturday as they look to keep their finals hopes alive.
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Freebairn hoped the team wasn’t left to rue missing opportunities earlier in the season.
“Yesterday was probably the first really good all around team performance,” he said.
“Personnel changes have been negligible so history says our best is good enough, we’ve just struggled with consistency.
“It provides a bit of enjoyment for the guys, they been battling manfully without result, so hopefully it gives us a bit of a lift.”
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