SAINTS MISS BY THAT MUCH
ST PETER’S captain Billy Ford says his side will take positives from the season, despite missing the finals by percentage.
Claiming a dominant nine-wicket win over Manifold Heights at Walker Oval on Saturday, the Saints made a late charge but ultimately missed the top four by .12.
The St Peter’s cause was hurt by the weather, having been denied the chance to push for an outright win over the Sharks after day one last week was lost to a damp pitch.
“We’re disappointed, but the way we look at it, we’ve had a good year but not a great year,” Ford said.
“That’s what we spoke about. We finished the season 7-5 with two washouts and in any other year you’d think you’d be able to scrape in with wins. But with how tight the competition is and a couple of washouts, it just wasn’t meant to be. Percentage is obviously crucial and there were a couple of games where it costs us. We actually did the maths last night (Saturday night) and we fell 29 runs short on percentage. So if we batted first, we might have got enough percentage to make it.”
Reigning premier Marshall held onto fourth spot, despite a sevenwicket loss against Highton, and kept the Saints out.
“Seeing the results and how it all panned out, we just took it in our stride,” Ford said.
“We knew at the start of the day it was going to be tough to scrape in. So we were just excited about how we went about the day. We could’ve easily rolled over and went through the motions, but to put on a pretty dominant display, we were all excited.
“Being a young group, it’s good for the culture of the club.”
Tom Neal again proved a headache for the Sharks, claiming 4-26 to set up the win.
“Tom put on another great display of fast bowling,” he said.
“Like he did last time, he ripped through the top order and put them on the back foot early, which is what we spoke about. We didn’t want to just go through the motions, and for Tom to do that, was great.
“Bourkey (Sam Bourke) came on at the end at tidied things up, so it was a complete bowling performance.”
It was a bittersweet finish for champion Phil Lang, who announced his retirement.
“He’s been superb for the club,” Ford said of Lang. “He said that he’s going to hang around the club. He’s loved his 12 months here and he kind of wishes he found the club earlier. He’s enjoyed it that much.
“He’s been a great contributor to the club and he’s taught a lot of young fellas around the club how to go about an innings and a lot of the boys have watched him go about it in awe.”