READ MORE - Batting depth holds Golden Square in good stead
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FROM long-time whipping boys of the competition to on the verge of the Bendigo District Cricket Association premiership.
Huntly-North Epsom as it has been known since 2001-02 has spent much of its existence mired at the bottom rungs of the ladder, but now finds itself just one win away from the BDCA flag as it prepares to take on Golden Square in this weekend's grand final at the QEO.
The Power have orchestrated a meteoric turnaround to make the grand final given they were coming off a base of just two wins last season.
READ MORE - Grand final teams
But then when you factor in the 0-3 start the side made to this season, the Power have done an enormous job in turning their poor start into a crack at a first premiership since the merger of the former North Bendigo senior and Huntly junior clubs in 2001-02.
And it's easy to pinpoint the season's turnaround for the Power - it came against its grand final opponent.
It was against Golden Square in round four when the Power won its first game in the most extraordinary of circumstances, inflicting a collapse of 7-16 on the Bulldogs to win by one run.
The Power - a club that once went 78 games without a win during the 2000s - are the only team to beat Golden Square this season, and while they may be the underdogs this weekend, have slightly had the better of the Bulldogs in recent years with a 3-2 advantage in their past five meetings.
From their 0-3 start the Power have since won nine of their past 11 games and already claimed some silverware along the way, winning the BDCA's Symes Motors Cup.
"Looking back on that day at Golden Square, Wardy (Adam Ward) pulled us all aside at tea when they were cruising and we were staring down a 0-4 start to the season," Power skipper Elliott Massina said this week.
"Wardy spoke about how we can either come out after tea and just roll over, or we can have a real dip and have the belief that we can take some wickets, which is what we did.
"We had done a lot of work through the off-season and brought some good players into the club, but we were probably starting to doubt ourselves as a group. But after that game you could just see the confidence and belief among the group start to grow a bit."
The stunning win over Golden Square was followed by an outright victory over Kangaroo Flat the following round and then a 108-run demolition of Eaglehawk in the game in which Adam Ward produced the BDCA's best bowling figures this season - 8-39 off 21 overs.
In the space of just three games the Power had not only lifted themselves off the bottom of the ladder, but into the top four where they remained for the rest of the home and away season.
The Power's revival has been on the back of the competition's No.2 ranked bowling attack that in one four-game stretch bowled Kangaroo Flat out for 80 and 100 in their outright win; Eaglehawk for 111; Kangaroo Flat again for 94; and Strathfieldsaye for a meagre 39.
In his return to the club, Ward has been sensational with the ball - 36 wickets at an average of 14.1, with 22 of his scalps top-five batsmen.
But Ward also enters the grand final in sparkling form with the bat, making 110 in the final home and away round and following it up with 90 in last week's semi-final win over Eaglehawk.
Ward is one of five bowlers in the Power's grand final side with at least 14 wickets for the season.
The always-economical Brett Elvey (21), who joined the Power, along with team-mate Brodie McRae, when it was at rock bottom in 2009-10, leg-spinner Sandun Ranathunga (15), recruit Danushka Wijemanna (15) and grand final inclusion Mitch Whittle (14) have 65 wickets between them.
And left-armer Jarrod Hodoras (7) added another string to the bow of the Power's bowling attack with his 3-8 in the semi-final against Eaglehawk last week.
While Golden Square has been lauded for its batting this season, the Power have their share of batsmen capable of impacting the game.
Ward (469), Wijemanna (464), Ryan Grundy (458) and Ranathunga (433) all have 400-plus runs and between them have combined for 16 scores over 50.
Opening batsman Grundy - who played the first game of the season for White Hills before returning to the Power - is one of only two players, along with Sandhurst's Joel Murphy, to have multiple tons for the season.
"It's really exciting for the club to be in a grand final, particularly for the people who have been involved for a long time like Russell King and Paul Brennan," said Massina, whose father, Neville - who is also the club president - played in three North Bendigo premiership teams in 1969, 1972 and 1973.
"The group we've got is really close and realise it's probably more important to those people... win, lose or draw we want to make those people as proud as we can."
Play in the grand final at the QEO begins noon Saturday and Sunday.
THE TEAM
ELLIOTT MASSINA (captain)
Runs: 196 Avr: 15.08
HS: 41 v Golden Square
100s: 0 50s: 0
Wkts: 7 Avr: 25.71
BB: 2-30 v Bendigo
Econ: 3.27 Strike: 47.14
Fielding: 6 dismissals
MVP points: 401
...............................
SHEHAN DE SILVA
Runs: 284 Avr: 21.85
HS: 55* v Strathdale
100s: 0 50s: 3
Wkts: 4 Avr: 62.00
BB: 1-12 v Golden Square
Econ: 3.18 Strike: 117.00
Fielding: 13 dismissals
MVP points: 504
...............................
BRETT ELVEY
Runs: 55 Avr: 13.75
HS: 17* v Eaglehawk
100s: 0 50s: 0
Wkts: 21 Avr: 14.67
BB: 5-27 v White Hills
Econ: 1.72 Strike: 51.14
Fielding: 6 dismissals
MVP points: 535
...............................
RYAN GRUNDY
Runs: 458 Avr: 38.17
HS: 104 v Strathfieldsaye
100s: 2 50s: 2
Fielding: 5 dismissals
MVP points: 508
...............................
JARROD HODORAS
Runs: 31 Avr: 10.33
HS: 15 v Golden Square
100s: 0 50s: 0
Wkts: 6 Avr: 28.67
BB: 3-8 v Eaglehawk
Econ: 2.92 Strike: 59.00
Fielding: 3 dismissals
MVP points: 181
...............................
BRODIE McRAE
Runs: 93 Avr: 15.50
HS: 27 v Eaglehawk
100s: 0 50s: 0
Fielding: 19 dismissals
MVP points: 288
...............................
SANDUN RANATHUNGA
Runs: 433 Avr: 33.31
HS: 95 v Sandhurst
100s: 0 50s: 3
Wkts: 15 Avr: 15.87
BB: 5-9 v Kangaroo Flat
Econ: 2.18 Strike: 43.60
Fielding: 5 dismissals
MVP points: 793
...............................
ANTHONY TANNER
Runs: 67 Avr: 6.09
HS: 14 v Strathdale
100s: 0 50s: 0
Fielding: 5 dismissals
MVP points: 127
...............................
ADAM WARD
Runs: 469 Avr: 31.27
HS: 111 v Bendigo United
100s: 1 50s: 3
Wkts: 36 Avr: 14.14
BB: 8-39 v Eaglehawk
Econ: 2.25 Strike: 37.67
Fielding: 6 dismissals
MVP points: 1254
...............................
MITCH WHITTLE
Runs: 5 Avr: 2.50
HS: 1* v Golden Square
100s: 0 50s: 0
Wkts: 14 Avr: 19.29
BB: 4-20 v Kangaroo Flat
Econ: 2.87 Strike: 40.29
Fielding: 3 dismissals
MVP points: 315
...............................
DANUSHKA WIJEMANNA
Runs: 464 Avr: 30.93
HS: 67 v Golden Square
100s: 0 50s: 5
Wkts: 15 Avr: 16.33
BB: 4-18 v Golden Square
Econ: 2.85 Strike: 34.40
Fielding: 9 dismissals
MVP points: 859
...............................
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