History to be made for clubs chasing top-grade glory

THE Titans and Seagulls will be chasing their own pieces of history in this weekend’s Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association A1 grand final, starting tomorrow (Saturday, March 22) at Collendina Recreation Reserve.

Armstrong Creek is after its first top-grade flag, while Barwon Heads is aiming for two in a row since being promoted.

The former defeated Barrabool while the latter beat Anglesea to advance to the big dance.

Seagulls captain-coach Dan Donaldson said his troops would have to play out of their skin to take down the Titans.

Armstrong Creek skipper Daniel Maclean, meanwhile, praised the Seagulls’ spinners and prolific run-scoring.

Both teams boast strong bowling line-ups, which was evident in the semi-finals.

Barwon Heads 15-year-old Angus Mackie took 6-29 against the Roos, much to the delight of Donaldson.

“To get him (Michael Thornton) out and then to essentially win the game off his (Mackie) own bat is incredible, particularly for a 15 year-old,” Donaldson said.

Meanwhile, Maclean’s younger brother Jack, who bowls left-arm seam-up pace, played a top semi-final with 5-36 against the Bulls.

The Titans’ captain said the bowling group had been a strength for years and the batting had picked up this season.

“It’s good to be able to put scores on the board for the bowlers to be able to bowl at and it’s comforting to have them around,” Maclean said.

On the batting front, Maclean and Ben Norgrove made half-tons last weekend.

Opener Max Melzer is Barwon Heads’ form batter with one century and five half-centuries, including 69 last weekend.

“Max has been hitting the ball really cleanly; he’s probably a bit disappointed with his last couple of seasons but he’s definitely in a good headspace at the minute,” Donaldson said.

Armstrong Creek and Barwon Heads will also battle it out in the C2 decider, and the Seagulls will play in the B1 grand final against Jan Juc.