By ADEM SARICAOGLU
JAKE Styles was stiff not to win ‘man of the match’ honours in the WDCA A1 Turf grand final on Sunday.
That honour went to team mate Andrew Ford for his 112 in the first innings, but the Wyndhamvale bowler was the star of the show in the final weekend of play in the rain-affected, three-week long decider.
He claimed three wickets on Sunday to add to his five from the day before and ended up with amazing figures of 8/47 that clearly stood out on the scoresheet as his Falcons claimed victory over Williamstown Imperials at Bryan Martin Oval by 209 runs.
The Imps already had a mammoth task heading into the weekend, but could do little in their second innings chase as Styles let rip.
Ultimately the mountain was too steep for the Imps, who fell for 112 and sunk to their second successive grand final loss.
Though Ford and Styles received all the individual plaudits, some honourable mentions were also deserved.
Andrew Mundey scored a very handy 91 for the Falcons in the second innings while fellow middle-order batsman Adam Moscatiello produced 59 of his own.
Rohan Hilson also battled hard for Williamstown Imperials with the ball in the second innings.
His 29 overs yielded 5/57 and 13 maidens, but in the end whatever resistance the Imps tried to throw at Wyndhamvale proved futile.
Meanwhile, Williamstown Congs was a heavy loser in the B1 Turf decider, going down to Deer Park Ardeer.
The eventual premiers made 306 in their only innings of the match while Williamstown Congs could only manage 227 in two digs (81 and 146).
B2 Turf honours went to Gellibrand Cricket Club, who also claimed an outright win over Melton South PSCC, while Caroline Springs claimed the A-Grade Matting title with an outright win over Melton Centrals.
