WARRANDYTE Cricket Club has experienced another successful year, taking home three senior premierships in the Ringwood District Cricket Association for 2015/16.

Victories for Warrandyte’s Third XI (Don Smith Shield), Fifth XI (Timothy Court Shield) and Sixth XI ensured the Bloods added more silverware to their recently bulging trophy cabinet.

It was a busy finals campaign for Warrandyte across the entire club with five of the six senior teams qualifying for the finals and all of those five winning through past the first week.

The impressive Third XI made it to the big dance the hard way. Arguably deserving to finish on top of the ladder, Warrandyte had to settle for third place and an elimination final against Lilydale due to an anomaly in the draw and a last round defeat.

Warrandyte made light work of the opposition in the knockout game, easily defending a monstrous 305 on the second day. Warrandyte reached the total thanks to the well-poised batting of Tom Ellis and Cameron Day, before Stuart Howarth and Shaun Ison brought the team home strongly.

Ison would prove to be the games X-factor, taking three wickets when Warrandyte had its turn with the ball, to compliment U16 player Ben Jackson’s four wickets.

The following week, Warrandyte faced Kilsyth to book its ticket into the Grand Final in what proved to be a tighter contest. After being restricted to 151 on a slow ground, (with Day doing most of the heavy lifting with the bat) Warrandyte’s skipper Stewart Smead delivered with the ball, taking 5/10 in a romp to ensure Warrandyte would play another week. Playing as the only senior team in the third week of the finals, Warrandyte had a large crowd in attendance as it took on the competitive East field at a neutral ground. The Grand Final was an intense affair and became a one-day fixture following rain interruption on the first day.

Warrandyte had 35 overs to play with and restricted Eastfield to 117, largely due to more terrific bowling from Smead. That left Warrandyte facing a tricky run chase in a high-pressure situation, and the Bloods needed to keep their heads. Consistent wickets kept East field in the game, until Chris Jackson and Dean Gidley combined for the ninth wicket to guide Warrandyte home to an unlikely victory.

The Fifth XI also welcomed 11 premiership players to the history books, with an emphatic Grand Final victory over Templeton at the Warrandyte Cricket Ground.

To reach the final, Warrandyte was required to chase down 100 against a tough Montrose team, but completed the turnaround thanks to some dogged batting by Peter Hanson. Warrandyte put on a nervous display with the bat in the Grand Final, which may have been influenced by the size of the occasion. The home side managed 125, with Nathan Croft providing a mature captain’s innings before Warrandyte took the ball to defend the total.