Titans edge closer to first BPCA A1 finals

ARMSTRONG Creek Cricket Club’s First XI is on the precipice of its debut A Grade finals appearance with only a handful of games left.

The Titans, who joined the Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association in 2017-18, are only a couple of wins away from locking in its first A1 semi-final.

A win and nine points presently separates Armstrong Creek from falling out of the top four

“I think the motivation of missing out last year in the last round is a big lure for us to play finals at the moment,” Armstrong Creek captain and coach Daniel Maclean said.

“If we can defeat Ocean Grove this week, it would help us put a big gap on fifth position and do us a heap of good.

“If we can do that, and stick to a winning style of cricket, the results from here on in should take care of themselves.”

Armstrong Creek put a dent in its chase of Ocean Grove’s 215, stringing together 37 runs before stumps on day one.

Maclean, who has enjoyed a superb season and ranks in the top five among bowlers for wickets taken, failed to have an effect last weekend but a combined effort from his team-mates – Jack Maclean (three wickets), Jason Robertson and Sam Stoneley (two each) – helped bowl out the Grubbers.

“We won’t be looking at it like a 215 total, it’s 178 now we’re chasing now, so we’ll need about two and a bit runs an over to do it, it doesn’t matter if it takes us all day to get there,” he said.

“We just need to put our heads down and away we go.”

Maclean said it had been a long road to get the First XI side in this position, but qualifying for A1 finals would encapsulate how far the club had come in recent years.

“The growth of this club has been awesome to see.

“Our B Grade side is sitting in third, our C Grade side is sitting at the top of its ladder, and our One Day side is sitting in fifth as well, so everyone is in a really good space to play finals at this point.

“Last year as well, our women’s program really made a statement. If you can continue to win games of cricket, cricket clubs are a really great place to be and we’re excited to see what this season brings.”

Armstrong Creek will play Barrabool, Jan Juc, and Inverleigh before the finals.