Sport
3 February, 2026
Bulls cause sudden Maryborough collapse
With the proverbial red flag waved in front of their finals aspirations, a Lachlan Oddie and Brandon Walsh led comeback allowed the Bulls to charge down the Owls.
Even after a brilliant opening stand from Kriss Ellis and Jarrod Blandford, Beaufort’s total of 7/192 seemed in serious trouble as Ben Hoban and Liam Radlof laid the foundations for the Owls to fly to victory.
That all changed when spin kings Oddie and Walsh delivered the decisive jackhammer to Maryborough’s run chase, the catalyst for a mammoth 8/40 Owls collapse.
With Carisbrook and Clunes suffering defeats last weekend, Beaufort’s emphatic 43-run triumph rebuilds their top four cushion to nine points.
The Bulls elected to face the first competitive deliveries on the upgraded Princes Park pitch when they won the toss and chose to bat.
The fresh partnership of Ellis and Blandford was dynamite immediately, belting five boundaries in the first five overs to give Beaufort a handy launchpad.
A bowling alteration from Elliot Ashburn and Liam Maffescioni to Tate Williams and Daniel Petter didn’t slow the Bulls, who entered the first drinks break at 0/78.
With the Bulls in control, the Owls handed the ball to Ben Hoban immediately after the interval. The right-arm seamer paid immediate dividends by bowling Ellis for 36, ending Beaufort’s opening partner-ship after 82 runs.
Theo Trevelyan-Clark was the new man alongside the red-hot Blandford, looking to refine Beaufort’s excellent start. The new pairing maintained the Bulls’ momentum, adding 30 before Trevelyan-Clark was left castled by Petter for eight.
With his team now 2/112, Blandford brought up his fourth 50 in his last five A grade matches, looking to convert it into a maiden hundred alongside Lachlan Oddie.
It wasn’t meant to be for Blandford however, bowled by Williams after scoring 60.
Blandford’s dismissal was a turning point for Maryborough, who were already beginning to stifle the run rate with tighter bowling.
After a somewhat shaky start to his debut with his new club, Williams began to find his line and length, tightening the screws alongside Ashburn and Hoban.
Williams got his just rewards by knocking the stumps of the dangerous Oddie for eight, sparking the Bulls to crumble.
Captain Walsh joined Oddie back in the pavilion three balls later, bowled by Maffescioni for 10, before Williams claimed his third victim in the next over when Lyle Aichroth was caught by Ashburn for four.
With three wickets in three overs, the Bulls were on the verge of wasting the efforts of Blandford and Ellis, now 6/156 with five overs remaining.
An unlikely duo of Charlie Dyer and Nick Stabbins came to the rescue for Beaufort, adding vital insurance runs with a 28-run partnership.
Despite Dyer hitting an Oliver Bennett delivery to Alex Burrow in the final over after scoring 15, a Stabbins six bookended Beaufort’s innings, ending on 7/192.
Williams made a noticeable first impression in the Owls’ nest, leading with 3/36 from eight overs.
Hoban and Troy Bursill opened Maryborough’s response, starting with a 12-run first over that included seven wide runs from Trevelyan-Clark.
Jayden Scotland helped save the blushes of Trevelyan-Clark, removing Bursill for 11 in the fourth over when he was caught by Stabbins.
Despite solid spells from Scotland and Blandford dropping Mary-borough below the required run rate, they couldn’t stop the new pairing of Hoban and Radlof from settling.
The duo surpassed the introduction of MDCA Melbourne Country Week member Joel Pymer, and a minor rain delay, to bring the Owls to 1/89 after 21 overs.
After being hit for a six by Radlof in his opening over, Walsh got his revenge by bowling Radlof for 30, wedging the door open for the Bulls.
As the contest reached a pivotal point, Maryborough’s most prolific batsmen, Hoban and Bennett, were now at the crease and poised to score the remaining 102 runs for victory.
With the script set for a fairytale ending to Maryborough’s Princes Park homecoming, Walsh ripped up those pages by removing Bennett for one thanks to a catch from Aichroth.
The one-man wrecking machine of Walsh was aided when Oddie joined the attack, wasting no time adding his name to the wickets by trapping Burrow with an LBW dismissal after he scored seven.
Despite Hoban’s best efforts, wickets tumbled around him as Maryborough struggled to keep its head above water under the floods of Walsh and Oddie.
After hitting a four with his first ball, Lachlan Bursill’s next delivery from Walsh left his stumps polaxed. Ben Robertson didn’t fare much better, run out for a duck.
Ashburn battled before being bowled by Oddie for four, a fate also served to Petter, who was gone for three.
After ending the 22nd over 2/91, Maryborough were shellshocked at 8/129, with Hoban the Owls’ last gasp of scoring 64 runs in the remaining 30 balls.
Hoban’s fight proved futile, becoming Oddie’s fourth wicket after being caught by Malcolm Woolley for 48.
Maffescioni and Williams played some entertaining shots as part of Maryborough’s tenth-wicket stand, but Maffescioni’s run out for seven officially gave Beaufort a landmark win they desperately needed.
The pairing of Oddie and Walsh turned the tide for the Bulls, finishing with 4/16 and 3/32 respectively.
