Season 2008/09 

Rnd 1 1st XI v Essendon at Schramms #1

The day started positive with the presentation of 1st XI caps to Matthew Brenmer (Player No. 120) & Peter Cashen (121).  It flowed onto winning the toss and batting, then getting off to a great start (1/95 off 21 overs). From there our day took an unexpected dive with an unknown (Luke Wilson ECC) ripping though our middle/lower order to claim 7 wickets.

Our batters struggled with his pace and extra bounce.  Our Innings was drawn to a close after just 46 overs. Mash 50 the only person to make a major contribution.   Bremner & Cashen showed fight and for guys playing there 1st game.

Our bowling and fielding was quite good for 30 odd overs but we were never in the contest with only 161 on the board, we needed to claim early/regular wickets to put the pressure on.   ECC cruised to a victory, picking up the bonus point along the way. 

Not the start the Lions were looking for but we will expect to bounce back as there is 12 points up for grabs this weekend with a double header v RCC & FECC respectively.

Season 2007/08 

Rnd 3 1st XI vs Hawthorn - Monash Uni at Schramms #1

We rocked up today hoping to get our season underway with our first win of the season. We started the day with Timmy losing the toss to Simon Dart. And with no hesitation Hawthorn-Monash decided to have a bat on a very good looking wicket with batsman friendly conditions. After having a chat and a good warm up everyone was looking forward to turning our season around.

Hawthorn-Monash got off to a great start with their captain Dart hitting the boundaries at will and our bowlers not bowling great areas. Dicko then came on to bowl and tightened the screws and brought us back into the game with 10 overs 0/30. It was always going to tough conditions for the bowlers on the flat track and we had to limit the boundaries as much as we could and unfortunately we bowled too many of these lose ball which they took full toll of. The highlights were few and far between for us in the field today and we were chasing far more than we would have liked at the start of the day with Hawthorn-Monash posting a very good score of 3/279 with Dart compiling a very aggressive but smart innings of 125 and valuable contributions from Stallworthy and big hitting by Spoljaric at the end.

We knew going into the chase that we would need something special to get out of this one and unfortunately things didn’t start well for us losing Dicko in the first over and then Ghas and Moose in quick succession had us reeling at 3/31 and in real trouble. It was left to Barge and Timmy to pick up the pieces and rebuild our innings. They did a good job until Barge was dubiously run out for a well made 48 to continue his good start to the year and then Timmy was bowled for 46 which unfortunately left us at 5/123 and in real trouble. The tale offered little but the damage had already been done and we were all out for 165 off 41.5 overs a disappointing end to the game and the weekend. But next week is a new game and a chance to make amends for this weekend and with some hard work on the track this week I’m sure we can bounce back and come home with the points against Melbourne Uni. 

Rnd 2 1st XI v Camberwell Magpies at Schramms #1

Fitzroy Doncaster suffered its second successive defeat, this time at the hands of the Camberwell Magpies. Prior to the start of play the Lions were quietly confident of notching up their first win for the year as they felt that they had learnt some lessons from their tight Round 1 defeat to Footscray Edgewater.  Unfortunately nothing was gained from that defeat, with the Lions succumbing to the same mistakes that cost them victory in round 1.

Despite rain late in the week, ground conditions were excellent, with the pitch very dry and outfield, although slightly choppy, pretty fast. With this in mind the Lions skipper won the toss and elected to bat as he believed the pitch would further dry out and be difficult to bat on in the afternoon against the slow bowlers.

The going turned out to be pretty tough early on in the Lions innings, which was illustrated by the loss of a couple of early wickets.  With the score at 2-28, Sheehan joined Dickson at the crease. In need of some consolidation the pair looked to build a partnership without taking too many risks, the score moved on to a solid but slow 2-68 at drinks. Understanding that they were behind the eight ball in relation to where they wanted to be at that stage of the game the pair looked to increase the rate, as they knew a score of above 200 was required on a flat Schramms pitch.

Dickson was eventually out caught at long on for a very well made 84, which included 5 boundaries and 1 six, when the score was 152.  At this stage the Lions were in quite a solid position with about 10 overs to go and 7 wickets in hand, which put them in a position to really attack the last 10 overs.

Unfortunately, as was the case in Round 1, this is where it all came unstuck for the boys at the Lions Den. The last 10 overs were an absolute disaster with the Lions losing 7 for 23, to be all out for 193.

Despite being disappointed with the collapse, the Lions went out in the field in a positive frame of mind, knowing that they were up against a young batting line up that had lost some experience over the winter. The Lions did not get off to the ideal start, with Camberwell getting off to a solid opening partnership. However, when the score was 41, Darren Motschall broke through, cleaning up Camberwell’s left hand opening batsmen for 22.

This gave the Lions some hope of a come back, however a crisp knock from Camberwell’s skipper turned the game well and truly in their favour.  With the game quickly slipping away from the Lions grasp, Mick Shaw claimed a vital brake through, which was followed by a Peter Dickson wicket and a third from Glenn Maxwell. With the score now at 4 for 157 the Lions still could smell a victory.

It wasn’t to be however for the Lions, with Camberwell seemingly cruising into victory with 3 overs to spare, with the loss of only 5 wickets. The pick of the bowlers was Glenn Maxwell, who finished with the tidy figures of 1 for 28 off 10 overs.

The Lions knew they had failed in the last 10 overs of their innings, which ultimately costed them the game, a lesson that they failed to learn from round 1.

Man of the match for a well compiled 84 and 1 for 13 off 4 overs was Peter Dickson.