TWELVE months on from being denied the chance to contest the Emu Valley Cricket Association grand final due to the coronavirus pandemic, Emu Creek finally has its redemption.

On the back of a devastating early onslaught with the ball, the Emus defeated United by 20 runs in Saturday's grand final at Marong.

It was a sweet victory for the Emus given a year ago they had to settle for runners-up to United when the grand final was abandoned in the early stages of COVID-19 shutting down sporting competitions.

"It's fantastic for the group and the club... after going through what we did last year we feel we really deserve it today," Emu Creek captain Simon Marwood said.

"It's great to be able to get the win today."

The 20-run margin ended up being much closer than the game looked to be heading after the Emus defending their score of 8-151 had the United batting line-up in tatters.

Led by a man-of-the-match performance from gun all-rounder Tyrone Downie, who earned the Shane Hartney Medal, the Emus took seven wickets in the first 17 overs as the Tigers were left stunned at 7-37 and facing a seemingly insurmountable challenge.

However, the pair of Kane Goldsworthy and James Smith dug in against the odds and, after their disastrous start, the Tigers' last three wickets were able to add a further 94 runs to lift the score to 131 before being bowled out with five balls left in their innings.

Downie's match-winning 4-13 included an over that will go down in EVCA grand final folklore when he claimed three wickets in five balls.

Downie's third over - the sixth of the innings - featured the dismissals of Joe Hartney (c Tom McGregor, 6) off the first ball, Pat Hartney (bowled, 0) off the third ball and Mac Whittle (lbw, 0) off the fifth delivery.

And with gun batsman Broderick Williams (7) having been dismissed by Luke Bennett the previous over, it left the Tigers having lost 4-0 in the space of seven balls with the score on 13.

From there, it only went from bad to worse for the Tigers.

When skipper Harry Whittle (3), star batsman Alex Code (7) and Tom Calvert (6) all fell soon after, the Tigers were 7-37 and the Emus were on the verge of inflicting a grand final humiliation.

But while they were well and truly up against it, Goldsworthy and Smith put a halt to the constant flow of wickets.

The pair added 58 for the eighth wicket during a 15-over partnership that came to an end when Downie made his presence felt again.

Downie trapped Smith lbw for 25 with the score on 95 to pick up his fourth wicket and move the Emus a step closer to victory.

It would take another seven overs though for the Emus to wrap up the premiership, with the Tigers batting into their final over before Goldsworthy's gallant knock of 60 came to an end when he was caught by Downie off skipper Marwood.

Goldsworthy - who had gone into the game with just 71 runs from nine innings for the season - faced 67 balls and struck four boundaries and one six.

As well as Downie's brilliant 4-13 off eight overs, Marwood (2-27) claimed the last two wickets, while Bennett (1-20), Torin Petrie (1-13) and Todd Brown (1-25) all took one scalp apiece.

Testament to the quality of the bowling of the Emus, the only extra they conceded was one bye.

Earlier, the Emus were sent in and had the bulk of their 8-151 scored by the trio of Brown (43), Justin Hancock (35) and Marwood (25).

The three were the only Emus' players to score in double figures, with Brown and Marwood sharing in the best partnership of the innings with a 40-run stand for the second wicket.

At one stage the Emus lost 3-7 when Alex Collins (6), Bennett (0) and Tom McGregor (0) all fell in quick succession, leaving Emu Creek 5-77 in the 26^th over.

Harry Whittle took two of those wickets - Collins and McGregor - at which stage he had 2-12 from his first six overs.

Later at 8-129 in the 37^th over the Emus got a crucial 22-run partnership between Daniel Chamberlain (9 n.o.) and Brent Downie (9 n.o.) to lift their score above 150.

As well as top-scoring for the Tigers, Goldsworthy (2-17) also chipped in with two wickets, while Harry Whittle finished with 2-20.

Opening bowler Mac Whittle (1-14) was economical, with his eight overs costing just 14 runs, while Jarrod Starr (1-26) and James Smith (1-31) were also wicket-takers for the Tigers.

The premiership was Emu Creek's first since 2013 and according to author Darren Rodda's recently-released history book on the EVCA, is the club's sixth division one flag.

Marwood, Hancock, Chamberlain and Anthony Collins are all now dual premiership players with the club having played in both Saturday's and the 2013 flag.

Since returning to division one after dropping out for a season in 2017-18, the Emus have now finished third, second and first.

"It has been a really good revival by the club over the past three years. A lot of hard work has gone into it," Marwood said.

For the Tigers, they've missed out on two chances for silverware having also lost this season's Twenty20 grand final to Sedgwick last month.

EMU CREEK PREMIERSHIP TEAM - Simon Marwood (c), Luke Bennett, Todd Brown, Daniel Chamberlain, Alex Collins, Anthony Collins, Brent Downie, Tyrone Downie, Justin Hancock, Tom McGregor, Torin Petrie.

..........................................

1 run = 1 point

1 wicket = 20 points

1 catch = 10 points

1 run out = 15 points

1 stumping = 15 points

..........................................

100 - Kane Goldsworthy

United

Runs: 60 Wkts: 2 Field: -

94 - Tyrone Downie

Emu Creek

Runs: 4 Wkts: 4 Field: 1

75 - Simon Marwood

Emu Creek

Runs: 25 Wkts: 2 Field: 1

63 - Harry Whittle

United

Runs: 3 Wkts: 2 Field: 2

63 - Todd Brown

Emu Creek

Runs: 43 Wkts: 1 Field: -

45 - James Smith

United

Runs: 25 Wkts: 1 Field: -

45 - Justin Hancock

Emu Creek

Runs: 35 Wkts: - Field: 1

37 - Jarrod Starr

United

Runs: 7 Wkts: 1 Field: 1

30 - Mac Whittle

United

Runs: - Wkts: 1 Field: 1

28 - Torin Petrie

Emu Creek

Runs: 8 Wkts: 1 Field: -

24 - Daniel Chamberlain

Emu Creek

Runs: 9 Wkts: - Field: 1

21 - Tom Calvert

United

Runs: 6 Wkts: - Field: 1

20 - Luke Bennett

Emu Creek

Runs: - Wkts: 1 Field: -

16 - Alex Collins

Emu Creek

Runs: 6 Wkts: - Field: 1

14 - Alex Code

United

Runs: 14 Wkts: - Field: -

12 - Mitch Whittle

United

Runs: 2 Wkts: - Field: 1

10 - Tom McGregor

Emu Creek

Runs: - Wkts: - Field: 1

9 - Brent Downie

Emu Creek

Runs: 9 Wkts: - Field: -

7 - Broderick Williams

United

Runs: 7 Wkts: - Field: -

6 - Joe Hartney

United

Runs: 6 Wkts: - Field: -

0 - Anthony Collins

Emu Creek

Runs: - Wkts: - Field: -

0 - Pat Hartney

United

Runs: - Wkts: - Field: -

It was a one-sided game in the division two grand final as Mandurang belted Marong by 100 runs at Ewing Park.

The Rangas won the toss and put the Panthers to the sword, plundering 1-230 off their 40 overs.

Opener Phil Berry batted through the innings and finished just short of a century in making 94 n.o.

Berry smacked 16 boundaries in his 122-ball innings, while captain Cain Ladiges (55) and Warrick Behrens (77 n.o.) also notched half-centuries.

Behrens' innings was particularly brutal, with his 77 coming off just 48 balls and featuring four sixes and five boundaries.

The Panthers used eight bowlers to try to stem the flow of runs, with Ryan Murphy (1-40) the only wicket-taker.

On the back of a combined eight wickets between Adam Reaper (5-27) and Berry (3-14), the Rangas knocked over the Panthers for 130 in reply.

The Panthers had got off to a strong start to be 0-69 in the 14^th over before capitulating, losing 10-61 to be all out in the 30^th over.

Mia Mia celebrated a six-wicket win over league newcomers Bagshot in the division three section one grand final at Tannery Lane.

It was tough going with the bat for Bagshot, which was all out for 87 after winning the toss.

James Wheelhouse (34) top-scored for the Razorbacks, coming in at 3-34 and batting through until he was the final wicket to fall.

Mia Mia shared its wickets around, with Martin O'Sullivan (2-14), Andrew Conforti (2-14), Carl Thiesz (2-15) and Riley Thiesz (2-21) all taking two apiece.

Mia Mia took 23.5 overs to chase its target down as it answered with 4-88, with contributions from Carl Thiesz (20), opener Nathan Sims (19), O'Sullivan (18 n.o.) and Riley Thiesz (16) helping their side to victory.

Terry Page kept it tight with the ball for Bagshot, taking 2-8 from seven economical overs.

California Gully Cobras held off United by eight runs in the division three section two grand final at Club Court.

Sent into bat, the Cobras cracked 8-176 off their 36 overs.

Issac Ambalathummoola Joseph crunched 69 off just 61 balls for the Cobras, including five sixes, while Lachlan Knowles (3-28) snared three wickets for the Tigers.

The Tigers batted their 36 overs out in reply, making 6-168 led by 73 from opener Greg Gadsden.

Four Cobras players took a wicket.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: