UGSCA 2024-25: Williams through to grand final, Wandering and Cuballing to battle it out in preliminary

Cuballing knocked Towns from the Upper Great Southern Cricket Association A-grade premiership race, with a thumping 152-run win in Saturday’s elimination final at Clayton Road Oval. Winning the toss and batting first Cuballing made their intentions clear as opener Byron Blevin’s impressive performance helped the visitors progress to a preliminary final. Blevin (95) fell just shy of a century when he was bowled out by Sam Ellis (3-51), who turned out to be one of Towns’ stars with the ball taking three wickets, along with Mitchell Ackland (3-57). Ellis dismissed the Cuballing’s top three but strong batting contributions from Johannes De bruyn (31), Joe Dowling (64), Brock Francis (22) and Rhett Ballard (27) helped their side reach a massive score of 9-290. Perrin Quartermaine was a shining light for Towns, opening the batting with a solid 49 runs from 69 balls before he was bowled by Thomas Fleay. James Nicholson (24) and Lega Tau (22) tried their best to up the scoring for the home side but they were rolled for 138 in reply, their season coming to an end. Michael Moore (3-21) and Francis (3-30) took three wickets each and Fleay chipped in with two as Cuballing marched to this Saturday’s preliminary final. Williams put an end to Wandering’s 12-game winning streak, recording an impressive 44-run win over the competition’s top team in the qualifying final at Wandering. Williams captain Rodney Ford set the tone for his team, making 78 and was well supported by Julian Crudeli (39) as the visitors made 9-165. Wandering did what they could to keep control but they were set a tricky chase. Jordan Hughes (3-35), Ben Sherry (2-31) and Ben McMillan (2-14) bowled well. The home side lost the key wickets of Jacob Schorer (10) and Bryan Hardie (15) to Williams’ strike bowler Michael Forman. They fell to 4-57 after Crudeli bowled Sherry and then McMillian was run out. Hughes top scored with 22 and Lewis Parsons added 20. But Wandering didn’t have an innings of substance as they were all out for 121 in the 35th over. Williams bowled with great discipline as Roger Gillett (3-41) led the way while Forman (2-16), Crudeli (2-29) and Ford (2-14) snared crucial breakthroughs. The victory handed Williams hosting rights for the grand final on March 22, as they now wait to see who they will play from the winner of the preliminary final. Wandering had an incredible regular season and will get a second chance, hosting this Saturday’s preliminary final at noon against Cuballing with the last spot in the decider on the line. In the B-grade competition, Wagin’s season came to an end after going down by four runs to Cuballing in the elimination final. Towns were the first team into the grand final after a 72-run win over Pingelly-Noonebin in the qualifying final. Cuballing and Pingelly-Noonebin will clash in this Saturday’s preliminary final at Pingelly to decide Towns’ grand final opponent.