The winning Tatyoon A grade premiership team L-R Nathan O’Brien, Ashley Maconachie, Michael Harricks, Darren Beer, Andrew McDougall, Tim McDougall; (front) Julian Sambell, Lachlan Laidlaw, Jarred Blandford, John Coghlan, Andrew Ward. Picture: MARK McMILLAN
GCA - Tatyoon has secured back-to-back A grade Grampians Cricket Association premierships after defeating Swifts/Great Western for the second year in a row.
Play was extended to a third day after a tense first couple of days of play.
Swifts/Great Western will be smarting after being in a winnable position on the first day.
The Combine had Tatyoon on the ropes at 6/49 before centuries to Ash Maconachie and Tim McDougall effectively turned the match around, with Taty posting a first innings total of 301.
Despite a century to Sam Cocks on day two, the Combine fell six runs of a first innings victory.
Tatyoon made their way back out to the crease on Monday and it didn't take long for the Combine to claim an early wicket, with opening batsman Lachlan Laidlaw run out for just three runs.
With Tatyoon sitting at 4/77 at lunch, Swifts/Great Western needed their bowlers to stand up and deliver.
Jackson Dark, Jamie Bach, Marc Brilliant and Gary Ranton toiled hard throughout the afternoon, but found it tough going against the wall Tatyoon batsmen were putting up.
Eventually they had a mini breakthrough with Andrew Ward (26), Ash Maconachie (7) and Tim McDougall (4) removed in quick succession.
When Michael Harricks fell for 14 runs, the score was 8/113 and the Combine were still in with a chance of causing an upset reverse outright win.
However tail end batsmen Darren Beer and Julian Sambell held their nerve, seeing out the final overs as Tatyoon ended the afternoon at 8/129 to claim the A grade premiership for season 2012/13.
Jackson Dark was the Combine's leading wicket taker with three, while Gary Ranton finished with two.
Swifts/Great Western's B grade team went one further than their A grade counterparts, defeating Navarre in the grand final.
Resuming at 8/179 in reply to Swifts/Great Western's first innings score of 204, Navarre didn't last long.
Gary Hannett was left stranded on 15 not out, with Daniel Leehane (12) becoming Marc Collins' fourth victim for the match.
Navarre's innings ended on 184, 21 runs shy of victory.
MarcCollins (4/44) was best of the Combine bowlers while Tom Eckel chipped in with 3/44.
Swifts/Great Western returned to the crease and some superb batting by captain Phil Hutton (39) with support from Nic Clough (20) saw the Combine finish the day on 0/64.
Chalambar have been crowned C grade premiers for 2012/13 after defeating Willaura in the best of three one-day grand final series.
A third day was needed to determine winner after Chalambar took out day one and Willaura hit back on day two.
In the end, Chally won easily with 49 runs to Aaron Jenkins helping to set up overall victory.
Jake Robinson (27) and David Quaife (25) were also handy with the bat as Chalambar returned a first innings score of 9/178 off 40 overs.
Nicholas Brain was the pick of the Willaura bowlers, picking up 2/6 from just three overs.
It all unravelled for Willaura in their innings, with three players removed for no runs and just two - Ryan Townsend and Joshua Byron - reaching double figures, with the side reaching just 8/66 to hand the premiership honours to Chalambar.
Luke Walker, Jake Robinson and Steven Butler claimed two wickets each in Chalambar's resounding win.