Hard work paying off for Hawks

THE first club relegated by the BPCA is setting itself to fight to return to the top division.

Drysdale’s effort to leap out of BPCA A2 got off to a flying start on Saturday with a thrilling two-run win in A-grade, while the club’s two other sides also won.

New coach Wayne Foenander said the club wasn’t willing to accept the relegation lying down.

“The potential is there and I think there’s a little bit of competition in the club for places, which is good,” he said.

“The hunger is there. They don’t want (relegation) to happen again and they’re going to work hard to get back to A1.

“They had a hard year and everyone goes through that, but the depth in the club is really good.”

Faced with a pitch on the slow side at Winchelsea, Drysdale was held to 8-115 from its 40 overs, but Foenander said his batsmen had struggled to adjust.

But clutch bowling from Troy Jones (4-29) and Blake Robinson (2-12) got the Hawks over the line.

“The debrief was that we just need to work on the guys getting used to the ball not coming on to the bat as quickly as it did in A1,” he said.

“It wasn’t bad shots that got them out.”

After the games were won, the rooms were full on Saturday night.

An A-grade regular last season, Gavin Humphrey (70) put his name up for selection in the B-grade, alongside young bowlers Patrick Brady (3-8) and Jed Modini (3-27) showing the depth the club has on hand.

“It’s a really nice club, a family club and they’ve been welcoming of myself and my wife and kids,” Foenander said.

“Everyone was at the club (on Saturday night) to run through each game and it was a great feeling.”