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SEDGWICK'S FAIRYTALE FLAG
It's said that there are no fairytales in sport, but for Sedgwick, that's exactly what its grand final win over Spring Gully was.
In what was the club's centenary season, the Rams finally won their first premiership after 100 years in one of the great Emu Valley Cricket Association grand finals.
The Rams got the massive monkey off their back in the most brilliant of ways - successfully chasing down Spring Gully's imposing score of 250, winning with two wickets in hand and just two overs left up their sleeve.
Having lost four grand finals in the previous 10 years, the disappointment of those missed flag opportunities was eased for the Rams when Peter Moore scored the winning runs down to third man to complete the successful chase at Marong.
Moore (29 n.o.) and Jordan Ilsley (41 n.o.) guided Sedgwick home after the Rams had slumped to 8-214, adding an unbroken 39 for the ninth wicket to complete the centenary fairytale story.
The winner of the Shane Hartney Medal for the grand final's best player went to Sedgwick's Andrew Sheehan, who top-scored with 65 for the Rams.
* The Sedgwick drought-breakers - Rick Ladson (c), Quinton Bentley, Daniel Chamberlain, Justin Hancock, Bailey Ilsley, Jordan Ilsley, Simon Marwood, Scott McKenzie, Peter Moore, Andrew Sheehan, Greg Thomas.
PREMIERSHIP WORTH THE WAIT FOR CACKLES
There was no better story on grand final weekend than that of Sedgwick veteran Scott "Cackles" McKenzie, who for a quarter-of-a-century has been desperately chasing that elusive Rams' premiership.
McKenzie first played with Sedgwick in 1994 and had planned to retire at the end of the 2011-12 season.
He was featured on the back page of the Bendigo Advertiser on Saturday, Febraury 25, 2012 under the headline "Cackles Calls It A Day" where he spoke of his intentions to take up umpiring.
However, the desire to win a flag for his beloved Rams was simply too great and he couldn't bring himself to pull up stumps - McKenzie was back playing the following season.
Seven years on, McKenzie is finally a Sedgwick premiership player having been a member of the winning side that defeated Spring Gully, chipping in with 2-51 with the ball, taking two catches and making four with the bat.
Even at the ripe age of 50 McKenzie's all-round value to the Rams is exemplified in the stalwart ending the season with the most Addy MVP points of any Sedgwick player with 696.
CROWS' WEBB GOES LARGE
Spring Gully's Rhys Webb again proved he's not content with simply getting to 100 - he wants to convert a ton into a big century.
Webb plundered the competition's two highest scores of the season - 180 against West Bendigo in round six and 165 against Mandurang in round nine.
Those two tons, plus 124 against Maiden Gully in round two, helped Webb to 825 runs at an average of 68.7 for the season and a clear winner in the EVCA's Player of the Year with 15 votes.
Webb got his season away to a flyer with the bat, scoring 56, 124 and 74 - a total of 254 runs - in his first three hits, while his final tally of 825 was 239 runs clear of his nearest rival, Sedgwick's Greg Thomas (586).
Since joining Spring Gully three seasons ago Webb has cracked six centuries - three of them 150-plus.
EMUS' IMPRESSIVE RETURN TO DIVISION ONE
Emu Creek made an immediate impact in its return to division one competition after a one-season hiatus.
The Emus' productive off-season recruiting under new captain Todd Brown paid dividends straight-up with a finals berth in their first season back in the top division.
Emu Creek ended the home and away season third on the ladder with a 9-3 record, but the Emus stumbled in the semi-final, losing to Sedgwick by three wickets.
The Emus had defeated Sedgwick in the final round the previous week to be one of only two teams - along with United - that beat the eventual premiers.
The strength of the new-look Emus was reflective in the season's final wicket tally.
Behind United captain Harry Whittle's season-best 37 wickets came three Emu Creek bowlers - Luke Bennett (34), Anthony Collins (31) and Todd Brown (29), who combined took 94.
With the bat, the Emus were the only team to have four players make centuries - Todd Brown (two), Jeremy Brown, Brad Rowe and Shane Hamilton.
BENNETT'S BIG GAME WITH THE BALL
Ten wicket-matches don't come around too often in the EVCA.
Over the past 13 seasons dating back to 2006-07 there have been just nine bags of 10-plus wickets in a match.
Emu Creek's Luke Bennett became the latest to add his name to the list through that timeframe when he cleaned up West Bendigo in round three.
Having snared what would be the season's best figures of 7-31 in the first innings, Bennett followed it up with 4-24 in the second for a match haul of 11-55 off 23 overs.
Bennett's 11 wickets for the match featured seven caught and four bowled.
And just for good measure, Bennett also made 66 opening the batting for the Emus and took one catch in a performance that earned him 296 Addy MVP points.
For the record, the EVCA's best match haul since 2006-07 is the 12-56 California Gully's Shaun O'Shea took against Spring Gully in 2011-12 - 6-25 and 6-31.
LIONS CAPTURE INAUGURAL TWENTY20 TITLE
Maiden Gully captured a piece of EVCA history, winning the inaugural Twenty20 premiership.
The EVCA had previously played the 10-over slogathon known as the Bash for Cash, but this was its first foray into Twenty20.
After the grand final was delayed by a week due to poor weather, the Lions easily defeated Spring Gully by 76 runs at Marong.
Having amassed 9-179 batting first led by 58 from skipper Leon Beatty, the Lions knocked over the Crows for 103, inflicting the first of what would be two grand final losses Spring Gully suffered in 2018-19.
Maiden Gully's grand final win capped an unbeaten Twenty20 campaign for the Lions and provided some long-awaited silverware.
POWER TEAMS BLAST MORE THAN 400 ON SAME DAY
The sheer brute batting power of the competition's two best sides - Spring Gully and Sedgwick - was on full display on day one of round nine on January 19.
The Crows and Rams combined for 825 runs that day - Spring Gully blasting 4-410 against Mandurang at home and Sedgwick, after being sent in, cracking 8-415 against West Bendigo.
Combined, the Spring Gully and Sedgwick batsmen smashed 75 boundaries and 34 sixes in their run-feasts.
OLIVER DRIES MARONG RUNS UP
There were plenty of bigger bags taken throughout the course of the season, but Glen Oliver's performance with the ball for Maiden Gully against Marong in round nine is certainly worthy of a mention.
Oliver finished with the remarkably economical figures of 3-1 off 11 overs, which included 10 maidens.
Oliver's three wickets were the Panthers' two openers and No.3 batsman - Scott Ross (0), Duane Anderson (5) and Adam Brown (2).
However, the Panthers absorbed the early onslaught from Oliver, recovering from 3-7 and later 6-38 to post what would prove to be a match-winning 9-156.
That result was a massive missed opportunity for Maiden Gully, which would have played finals with just one more win.
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