By LIAM TWOMEY
A FINAL over onslaught from Hamish Winter-Irving and Lucas Dredge lifted Footscray Edgewater to a nail-biting win against Fitzroy Doncaster.
After being set 228 for victory, the Bulldogs needed 14 off the last over with Winter-Irving and Jake Haberfield at the crease.
More known for his bowling exploits, that didn’t stop the rising star Winter-Irving from lifting his team back into the game with a first ball six, before being dismissed the next ball.
That left new batsman Dredge with some work to do but the number 10 was well and truly up for the challenge.
He hit a two, followed by back-to-back boundaries to hand Footscray the win.
Bulldogs’ captain Dean Russ was rapt with the fight his side showed.
“To win from where we were was fantastic and shows we have a really good resolve among the boys. It was a great win,” Russ said.
“We are a bit of a younger group but we have been together for a while now. It was great that everyone knew their roll and did what they had to do to win the game. To see guys like Michael Hill really show and lead by example in the middle order and help get us into a winning position was fantastic and great for him as an individual as well.”
Hill was one of nine Footscray batsmen to reach double figures, scoring 37 while at the top of the order Wes Robinson was a standout with 59.
With the ball, Winter-Irving continued his great start to the season, taking 2/29 to the delight of his captain.
“He has been fantastic,” Russ said.
“He is a great kid. The way he comes on to bowl and is just so disciplined in his lines and lengths, Jake (Haberfield) and himself complement each other really well and he hasn’t put a foot wrong really.
“After two rounds of the Premier cricket season, Footscray remains undefeated and in second place on the ladder.
This weekend will see the Bulldogs play a double-header against Richmond on Saturday and Casey-South Melbourne on Sunday.
Footscray will be without Robinson, who is moving back to Western Australia.
“That is a massive loss,” Russ said.
“He batted really well on Saturday and looked in control the whole time. He is just a class person and class batsman.”
