Tigers of note kept hope alive

A HANDWRITTEN note in the pocket of an outfielder helped Torquay keep the hope alive.

Defending a below-par 157 at St Peter’s lightning fast Walker Oval, the Tigers had their backs against the wall.

With minor premier Bell Post Hill cruising at 2-72, it would have been understandable to see heads drop with every run scored.

But that A4 piece of paper had Torquay’s XI convinced it was still in with a sniff.

On that note, it read the seven times Bell Post Hill had collapsed this season. By 4pm, the Tigers were ready to pen th the eighth, as they celebrated a victory to remember.

Captain Ash Russell, c coming off a day one duck, started the collapse, catching Ryan Mills for 18. Then, Panthers captain Matthew Sampson-Barnes fell for 23, reducing the flag favourites to 4-87.

But it wasn’t until Luke Zanchetta (14) was removed at 7-119 that Russell was convinced his side was on its way into the grand final.

“I’ve been playing cricket long enough to know that in finals, f runs on the board, that t (157) is worth 190,” he said. s “It showed today. “We came this morning and we wrote down a few of their stats for the year. On seven occasions, I think it was, they’ve lost six or seven for 30s or 40s, and lucky today was one of them as well.

“We had no right to win that, but we just believed and we kept fighting.”

Anthony Foord bowled his backside off with 1-44 off 20 overs, but it was the spin of Tom Jefferson (3-9 off 11) and Russell (2-15 off nine) that saw the Tigers get through the Panthers’ tail, blasting them all out for 132.

“We’re not the greatest team of all time but we’re a really good group and we enjoy playing together and that just shows,” said Russell.

At the start of the year, we were a bit older than we anticipated, but we’ve got a couple of young blokes in there to keep us all fresh,” he added.

Russell said a premiership win would make a lot of Torquay club members smile.

“I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of a few flags recently and they’re very hard to achieve,” he said. “It would mean the world to a few of the boys in there, that’s for sure.”