THE Footscray Cycling Club was at the Victoria University circuit in Hoppers Crossing for the last summer criterium before the road season and with 40-plus degree track temperatures the season ended with a bang.
A-Grade riders were most civilized for the first 10 minutes with the pace gradually building up rather than the usual ’Ali’ punch to the face.
But the usual frenetic flurry of attacks then started with riders being pushed to the brink in the crosswinds for lap after lap.
At least half the field were dropped in the next 15 minutes at which time the remaining nine riders backed the pace off for a short respite.
That was until the unstoppable juggernaut that is Miles DaCosta ramped up the pace and tried to break the race up even further.
In the last 10 minutes the Flying Dutchman, Marco Duys, threw caution to the wind and tried to maintain a solo breakaway but with a stellar effort from DaCosta and Danny Bellis he was reeled in with two laps to go.
Bellis stayed on the front and played lead out man to the sprinters, with Dom Dudkiewicz maintaining his perfect winning record and taking the win from Paul Anders and Brett Hickford. Later, Dudkiewicz found it easy to sum up the day’s racing.“Hot and tough,” he said. “I raced at the Bendigo International Criterium last night and it was stinking hot up there and I felt like I was on fire, so to come out again into the heat today was a struggle. It was hard work coming up the straight into that headwind but it was a great way to end the season.”
A quality field assembled for the B-Grade race, and in similar fashion to A-Grade, numbers dropped through the attrition caused by the extreme heat and the strong wind.
In the end it came down to a bunch sprint and it was guest rider Peter Jones who just managed to hold off the evergreen ex-pro Bob Shannon, with Tim Robertson coming through for a well-deserved third. In the day’s other racing, Merrick D’Souza won the C-Grade race while Tom Gray took out D-Grade.
ST Andrews will take on the undefeated Werribee Centrals in the VTCA’s West B1 grand final to be played over the next fortnight after both snared wins in their semi final fixtures over the weekend. St Andrews was a 70-run winner over Point Cook at Pennell Reserve after they successfully defended their 142 to dismiss the home team for 74 in just 38.4 overs. Tom Cullum and Mathew Pipczak each claimed three wickets to help stifle Point Cook’s run chase while Mark Dorricott and Jake Buttigieg each got a wicket of their own from a combined eight overs. On day one it was John Buttigieg who did all the damage for St Andrews, smashing 42 runs before falling victim to the bowling of Joseph Farmer.
In round two back in October, Werribee Centrals defeated St Andrews by eight runs for first innings points.
KEALBA Green Gully is into its second consecutive George Luscombe Shield grand final in the NWMCA after successfully chasing down Buckley Park’s 171 on Sunday at Green Gully Reserve. The Cougars reached their target with four wickets in hand to book their place in the decider, finishing 6/172 in 72.2 overs. On Saturday it was Danny Viani doing all the damage with the ball, claiming 4/31 and four maidens from his 16 overs in the summer heat. On Sunday it was Evan Long who took charge with the bat, belting his way to a half-century (57*) that helped secure Kealba’s place in the decider. The chase was given the perfect start with openers Divesh Kumar and Dave Rogowski providing a 49-run partnership before both were dismissed for 13 and 26 respectively. A series of quick wickets put the Cougars under pressure later in the day, and at one stage they looked to be in trouble at 6/118. However with Long anchoring the innings and Daniel Hewitt surviving at the other end with 12 runs of his own, the pair managed to claim the required 54 runs with ease. As of deadline the Cougars’ grand final opponent had not been determined, but will either be Pascoe Vale Central or Sydenham Hillside
