SPORT Spirited effort, but Western bows out
Jay Vine was a solid all-rounder for Western Spirit across the state championships. (Damjan Janevski)
76, including a century against the North West Wizards. The Emus only needed 80 to win and they got the score with six wickets to spare. Declan O’Brien was the pick of the Spirit
bowlers in the semi-final with 2-8 off three overs. Spirit’s stand-out bowler across the tournament was Werribee young gun Jack Watt, who finished with nine wickets at 11.2. The female under-18 state championships wrapped up in December with the Western Spirit finishing the campaign with a 3-3 record. The dominant batters for the Spirit were Scarlett Saxon-Jones and Taylah Steadman. Saxon-Jones notched two half centuries for the Spirit to finish with 145 runs at 36.3, while Steadman left her best till last with 59 not out against Northern Rivers to take her tally to 125 at 31.3. It was a fairly even contribution from the Spirit bowlers, but Lauren McGrath led the way with seven wickets at 16.7. The under-18 female grand final will be contested between Inner South East and South East Country. Lance Jenkinson
Watt a find for Tigers By Lance Jenkinson Werribee did not have enough rain-free time to deliver a knockout blow on Coburg and had to settle for a draw in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association at Coburg City Oval on Saturday. But there was still enough time for exciting youngster Jack Watt to make his mark. It was a big week for Watt, starring for Western Spirit at the Cricket Victoria under-18 state championships with a team-best nine wickets at an average of 11.22 across five games. Watt backed it up for the Tigers on Saturday with an eye-catching 3-10 off six overs to be the main reason why Coburg could only muster 6-87 before rain brought about the compulsory closure to its innings after 31.2 overs. Watt has stepped up big time for the Tigers this season and his captain-coach Tim O’Brien reckons he will only get better the longer the season wears on. “From the start of the season till now, you can see his confidence has grown and he believes that he belongs at that level,” O’Brien said. “He knows his game a bit better now, he’s turned into a really good bowler and is probably the fastest at our club at the moment at only 16 or 17 years of age. “He’s got a big future ahead of him.” Watt spent last summer yo-yoing between Werribee’s second and third XIs. It was his twin brother Matt who took the competition by storm last season. But Matt’s departure to Footscray, along with the exits of Brad Robertson and James Freeman, paved the way to first XI cricket for Jack Watt. Watt, a paceman, has taken eight wickets in the first XI at an average of 16.4, with three-wicket hauls in each of his past two games. “We needed him to step up after losing a few bowlers like ‘Robbo’ [Brad Robertson] and James Freeman last year,” O’Brien said. “He’s come into his own.” It’s not only Watt who is taking care of business for Werribee. The whole Tigers bowling attack has been on a high since the start of December with the workload shared around. “Our bowling in the last few games has been really good,” O’Brien said. “We’ve got a really good mix.” Spinner Michael Kelly was a thorn in the side of the Coburg batsmen with 2-27 off nine overs. Another youngster, Jack Budd, took 1-16 off six overs to continue his break-out season. Werribee was reduced to 25 overs to chase 46 WYNDHAM STAR WEEKLY \ JANUARY 17, 2018
IN THE DOGHOUSE ■ Matt
Tudor is well known in golf circles in Melbourne and especially Werribee where he won the club championship twice and the Werribee Open once before hitting the professional tour. Matt is a leading teaching professional and has recently opened the Golf Fitting Hub at Melbourne Airport Golf Club. He added another string to his bow this week, becoming the club pro at Melbourne Airport Golf Club taking over from Tim Moore. It is a big step for Matt as Tim was head pro for more than 30 years. Matt’s experience in the industry makes him the perfect man for both these roles. He can talk to scratch golfers or the weekend hacker. What would you expect from a Werribee boy? His father Des, a premiership coach at the Werribee Football Club, is a Werribee Park member and is a constant winner in the weekly competitions. Well done to Matt, I have no doubt he will be a success.
■ Local
athletes are getting excited with the annual Maribyrnong Gift coming up on January 26 at Pennell Reserve. This is the big event on the local running calendar and there might be more reason to celebrate as a few are coming into the event in red hot form. Nathan Burfitt, who is the Deer Park Football Club team manager, is tearing up the track and won the Rye Gift race last weekend on the back of his victory at Daylesford the week before. Megan McMahon is another getting used to podium finishes.
■ Hogans
Road Reserve is the venue once again for the annual Hoppers Crossing Sports Club and E.J. Whitten Foundation Car Show on Sunday, April 8 from 7.30am-1pm. You can see some fine machinery in peak condition including muscle cars, antiques, and luxury cars and plenty more. The day features a live band, barbecue and special guests Ted Whitten jnr and Doug Hawkins. Proceeds from the day go to the E.J. Whitten Foundation for research into men’s health. Details or to enter a car call John Culhane 0488 991 705 or johnculhane29@gmail.com
■ The
next few weeks will tell the real tale of who ends up where in local footy. St Albans has been dealt a big blow with Daniel Kerr, their high profile signing, now unable to don the Saints jumper due to a change in his employment. It is a pity and he would have been a valuable asset to the entire competition. Kevin Hillier
Any news, let me know on email kevin@howdypartnersmedia.com.au. Follow me on Twitter @KevinHillier, plus check out the Howdy Partners Media website as well. Werribee young gun Jack Watt takes delight in snaring a wicket for the Western Spirit representative team during the week. (Damjan Janevski)
down the target, but after advancing to a confident 0-16 off 4.3 overs, the rain came down and the covers would remain until stumps, leaving the teams to share the points. “It was a little bit frustrating,” O’Brien said. “The rain would stop, we’d get the covers off and it’d start raining again.” “It’s definitely made it tougher for us. “We pretty much have to win every game
to play in the finals now.” Werribee will hit the road to play premiership contender Kew on Saturday. O’Brien is not downplaying the importance of the game for the Tigers. “It’s going to be season defining,” he said. “If we drop it, it’s probably season over, but if we win, we know they’re one of the top sides and we can take it up to anyone if we get over them.”
WESTPOINT Corner Heaths and Morris Road Hoppers Crossing Ph: 9749 6444 Web: www.westpointford.com.au
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Western Spirit has bowed out at the penultimate stage of the male under-18 Cricket Victoria State Championships. The Spirit lost to the Inner East Emus in a rain-interrupted semi-final by six wickets under the Duckworth/Lewis system at the Harry Trott Oval on Friday. The Emus have advanced to the grand final, where they will play Outer East Eagles next month. Western Spirit finished the group phase in second place with two wins and a loss from their three games. The Spirit crushed South East Bayside in the qualifying final by 98 runs. It set up a mouth-watering do-or-die clash with the Emus, but the weather spoiled a good game. The Spirit could only muster 105 in 38.1 overs with star batsman Dylan Brasher top-scoring with 40. Brasher, a Footscray player, had a magnificent tournament, scoring 304 runs at an average of
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