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Seagulls set pace early with solid performances Williamstown is hitting all the right notes early in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association season. The Seagulls dug deep to claim a 33-run win over Kew at the Williamstown Cricket Ground on Saturday to improve to 2-0. “It’s great that we’ve got blokes playing well at the start of the year,” Seagulls all-rounder Craig Sheedy said. “You can’t afford to wait four or five games to put your foot on the accelerator, you’ve got to go straight up. “Every win early counts.” Williamstown had a chunky 286 to defend, but it was never a comfortable task. Kew was always slightly behind the eight ball, but still well placed to launch late on a flat wicket, if only they wanted to roll the dice. “They didn’t really have a go, which is a bit of a surprise,” Sheedy said. Take nothing away from Williamstown’s bowling performance though. The Seagulls were consistent throughout the day to successfully defend the total. New ball operator Bryce Preston led the charge for the Gulls. Preston probably had the least impressive figures of all Seagulls on paper – 1-56 off 20 overs – but his actual impact did not show up on the scorecard.
“Bryce was unbelievable,” Sheedy said. “He was so unlucky, I’ve never seen so many balls get french cut, he should’ve got five or six wickets in the end. “On a really flat wicket, he was still able to get them on the back foot, get the ball up around their chest and they were always in a bit of doubt when he was bowling. “He built pressure and kept going all day.” Sheedy bowled under duress to produce 2-27 off 15. He was feeling the effect of a virus after the game. Mitchell Streiff was the most damaging with 3-45 off 12, while Patrick O’Malley returned 2-61 off 18. The Seagull with the biggest say over the result did not roll the arm over once. Wicketkeeper Brenton Hodges finished with four dismissals, including two catches and two stumpings. It was the kind of performance that has Sheedy pondering how good Hodges would be at the next level up. “He’d be a brilliant cricketer in Premier first XI,” Sheedy said. “He opened the batting and got 84 and batted beautifully. “His keeping today, two stumpings off some good bowling and two catches, he’s like an extra player having a keeper of his ability.” Williamstown will click into Twenty20 mode
Promising teenager Fraser Hay bends his back for Williamstown. (Damjan Janevski)
for its round three meeting with Werribee away at Chirnside Park on Saturday. The Seagulls go into the western derby undefeated, while the Tigers are winless. “You’ve got to go in there confident with the way we’re playing at the moment,” Sheedy said.
Garnham’s clean sweep
Tyson Garnham shows no fear for Western Crusaders during this year’s Vic Bowl triumph. (Shawn Smits)
because I scored two to three touchdowns per game,” Garnham said. “It’s hard to take all the credit because you do need everyone to pull their weight to score a touchdown. “I do get more opportunities to score and touch the ball than some of the other players, so that always helps. “If you get fed the ball on offence a lot, it’s
Lance Jenkinson
Discus champ takes gold at state carnival
By Lance Jenkinson Good things come to those who wait. In the case of Tyson Garnham, it was a long wait, but the Western Crusaders star finally got to feel the elation of a Vic Bowl triumph. Garnham had a season clean sweep, scooping a premiership with the Crusaders, taking out the Vic Bowl MVP and being recognised as the league’s MVP. It was the premiership that Garnham will treasure the most because of the heartache it took to finally get there. Last year, Garnham had to watch most of the heartbreaking Vic Bowl loss to Monash Warriors from a hospital bed after breaking his collarbone in the early exchanges. The previous time the Crusaders featured on Gridiron Victoria’s biggest day back in 2007, Garnham had to sit out with a dislocated ankle and missed out on that premiership glory. Garnham was not even a certain starter for this year’s Vic Bowl after rolling an ankle in the semi-final, but the 28-year-old pulled through and will have memories that will last a lifetime. “The goal was to win the grand final, not to win awards along the way,” he said. “The reaction [to the grand final MVP] was like, whatever, really, I was just happy to finally win the grand final. “I’ve been a little bit cursed when it comes to the Vic Bowl, so I was pretty emotional by the end of the game.” Garnham’s offensive punch is so important for the Western Crusaders. He is damaging both as a running back and a wide receiver, routinely scoring touchdowns in the air and on the ground, exploiting the opposition’s main weakness. Talk to Crusaders insiders and they believe last year’s close Vic Bowl loss to Monash might have gone the other way had Garnham been available for the full game, but the pain of that defeat dissipated when the Crusaders rolled over Melbourne University Royals 30-9 in Vic Bowl XXXIII. It was only after the celebration died down that Garnham realised how close he was to missing out on this year’s premiership. “Now the celebrations are over, my ankle actually hurts, so I need to go and get it scanned,” Garnham said. “We’ll get the scans and take it from there.” Garnham was the centrepiece on attack for the Crusaders offence, the best offensive line in the league. Plays were drawn up for his benefit and he just executed better than everyone else. “If I could put why I got the MVP award, it’s
Elsewhere, Altona failed in its chase for Ivanhoe’s 172, bowled out for just 124 at Ivanhoe Park. Yarraville was thrashed by Brunswick to the tune of 175 runs at Gillon Oval.
quite easy to stand out. “If you gave the ball to someone else all game, they would potentially get it as well, so I’m just fortunate the team trusts my ability and they give me a lot of the ball.” Garnham believes this is just the start for the Crusaders. Now he has tasted the ultimate success, he wants the Crusaders to do it all again next season.
Victoria Entwistle-Hardeman could not have timed her personal best discus throw any better. Competing at the Victorian Secondary School Sports Association state carnival, Entwistle-Hardeman took out the gold medal in the under-14 girls discus final with a throw of 33.05 metres at Lakeside Stadium. Claiming gold was EntwistleHardeman’s main focus, but the PB was the icing on the cake. “It was a great feeling to get to the top of the podium,” she said. “My next goal is to place at the All Schools or throw an automatic qualifier for the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in March.” Entwistle-Hardeman is a year 8 student at the Maribyrnong Sports College. She is also one of the most promising throwers at the Altona Little Athletics Centre and Western Athletics. Competing since the age of six, Entwistle-Hardeman will now get the chance to compete in Christchurch, New Zealand, before returning home for the national schools championships. Entwistle-Hardeman is a versatile athlete, as evidence by her under-14 girls 200 metre hurdles club record at the Altona Rockets. Her coach, Nicole Williams, says she is a leader on and off the track. “Victoria works incredibly hard both on her own throwing technique in the discus and javelin, as well as assisting with younger athletes at the centre’s weekly throws training,” Williams said. “She sets a fantastic example to other athletes that if you work hard, listen to your coach and set goals, you can achieve anything.” The win capped off a great week in the Hardeman household – Victoria’s father and coach Brett Hardeman was selected to be a Commonwealth Games baton relay runner in recognition of his services to athletics. Lance Jenkinson
51 MARIBYRNONG & HOBSONS BAY STAR WEEKLY \ NOVEMBER 1, 2017