TUMUT Plains are back-to-back Elders Cup premiers after putting in a brilliant performance to upset Coolac in the grand final at the Bull Paddock on Saturday.
Tumut Plains won the toss and elected to bat, and put in a steady if not spectacular innings. Opener Kevin Keogh hit a cautious 41 from 105, an innings that included just one four, but greatly helped to set up victory. He was eventually caught by Coolac captain Tim Graham off the bowling of Caleb Piper.
Phillip Jones went for 6, caught by Robert Barron off William Naughton, and Nathan Butt, one of Plains’ best strike weapons, hit two fours on his way to 13 runs before being caught by Tim Graham off Sam Sharman
Plains captain Stephan Gill hit the only six in his team’s innings and also a boundary in his innings of 24 from 43 until caught by Angus Stapleton off Sam Sharman.
Luke Armstrong hit a solid 27 from 39, including two fours before he was caught by Adam Graham off Rob Barron. Barron had struck before, getting Dylan Butt caught by Brad Gorman for a duck. William Brown was the not out batsman hitting 18 off 16 balls, including two fours.
Plains finished on 6/139.
Coolac’s innings got underway and Caleb Piper was caught by Luke Armstrong while Angus Stapleton got going for a while, hitting 13 including three fours in his innings of 16, before he was out lbw to Aidan Thomas. Like Piper, Duane Shawcross fell for two, caught by Stephan Gill off the bowling of William Brown.
Aidan Thomas struck again, trapping Coolac skipper Tim Graham, who had hit seven. Adam Graham was dismissed for 11, caught by Luke Armstrong off the bowling of Myles Henman.
Henman, who like Aidan Thomas has been superb all season then struck again, trapping Joe Scott in front for 5. Robert Barron put up plenty fo resistance with the bat, hitting 28 from 53 balls, including two fours. This was his team’s top score, and he was eventually caught by William Brown from Dusty Hood. Ben Wysman managed 6 before falling to the same combination as Barron, caught by William Brown off Dusty Hood. Hood claimed the last wicket in his superb bowling performance when he bowled William Naughton for 15. Mark Sharman’s was the last wicket to fall as he was caught by Kevin Keogh off Mitchell Henman’s bowling. Brad Gorman was the last man standing on 7, with Coolac dismissed well short of the target.
All the Tumut Plains bowlers had done a superb job, especially Hood with his 3/7 from five overs, as the Plainsmen celebrated their second straight premiership.
Stephen Gill said his team were very happy to win back-to-back titles, the first of which came after a 40-year premiership drought.
“Both teams deserved to be there, even though we lost the major semi-final,” he said.
“We were confident in our ability but the game could have gone either way.”
Plains were determined to prove last season’s premiership wasn’t a one-off.
“We wanted to continue to build on what we’ve achieved as a club,” Gill said.
He found plenty to like about Plains’ grand final performance.
“Our bowling attack bowled well as a collective and this made it very easy to set fields to,” he said.
He believes Plains went into the grand final with some advantages.
“With the finals experience from last year and having to win a do-or-die finals match gave our young blokes with a bit more experience when the pressure’s on,” he said.
“Kevin Keogh batted well; he was a rock and everyone batted around him. Will Brown came in late and scored some crucial runs.”
He gave Coolac due credit for their performance and their great season.
“Coolac have had a really good year, and in the grand final they bowled well but we took our chances a bit better in the field,’ he said.
