Sport
9 December, 2025
Colts book their place into one-day Grand Final
It’s official, Colts Phelans will once again meet Laanecoorie Dunolly for the one-day crown after taking care of Clunes by five wickets.
With Saturday morning’s downpour reducing the game to 30 overs, an outstanding 50 from Magpies top prospect Brett Coon gave Clunes a defendable total.
Despite a spirited performance from the Magpies attack, Josh Collinson was seeing their deliveries like beach balls, finishing unbeaten on 48 with nine boundaries to take the Colts to the target comfortably.
With the start delayed, allowing Hedges Oval to dry a little more, the Colts sent Clunes in to bat after winning the toss, hoping conditions would improve for the batters as the day progressed.
Ritik Yadav and Noah Davies looked poised to replicate their solid partnership the week prior until Nick Henderson claimed both openers, first bowling Davies for eight, then forcing Yadav to be caught by Luke Tatchell behind the stumps for the same score.
It was the beginning of a dominating spell from the talented fast bowler, who quickly took the big wicket of Ahmed Rehman for two with the help of a catch from Collinson.
When Henderson bookended his spell by crashing the stumps of Mitch Coppick with a searing yorker that removed the Magpies’ leading scorer for two, it looked as though the hosts would stroll to victory with their opponents at 4/30.
However, Coon was making the most of his promotion up the Magpies order, playing some magnificent shots with none better than heaving Dayne Baker over the square leg boundary for six.
Coon and the new man in Brenton Jones navigated Clunes to the drinks break and looked determined to make the most of the last 15 overs.
Looking to regain their commanding position, the Colts handed the ball to Wayne Stubbings, who duly got a wicket in his first over, removing the disciplined Jones for nine thanks to a sharp catch from Tatchell.
Fred Penhall tried his best to hang in there and keep the in-form Coon on strike, but Tatchell’s terrific day with the gloves continued, stumping Penhall for seven off a Ben Evans delivery.
With Clunes now sitting at 6/81, Brendan Ingram was immediately aggressive when he joined Coon in the middle, with the partnership quickly becoming a thorn in the Colts’ plans.
Star all-rounder Asim Akhtar finally plucked the pesky 28-run partnership by bowling Coon, ending his breakout innings at a superb 50.
Baker brought an end to Ingram’s quickfire contributions shortly thereafter at 13 with Tatchell’s fourth dismissal, then removed Ben Handley for three with a catch from Evans.
Brad Stevenson and Brock Twentyman finished not out on one and naught respectively as Clunes ended their 30 overs on 9/116.
Nick Henderson ensured the Magpies were forced to play catch-up in their first innings, taking 4/23 from six overs.
Despite Henderson’s havoc, the Magpies recovered to a winnable position as Yadav and Davies searched for early wickets.
Colts openers Rhys Egan and Tarkyn Balzan thought the best way to play Davies was to attack, with Egan asking questions of the MDCA’s leading wicket-taker with a pair of boundaries.
Davies won the battle, however, bowling Balzan and Egan for three and 11 respectively to put the Colts on the back foot at 2/23.
If belief wasn’t flowing through the Clunes camp at that point, it certainly was when Akhtar was caught by Coppick for five off the bowling of Yadav.
That brought the Colts’ newest recruit, Jack Mensforth, to the crease, a powerful batter from England who looks to replace the impact of the departing Abdaar Ishaq.
Mensforth looked in fine touch alongside Collinson, but his debut knock was cut short when he hit a Stevenson delivery to Davies, gone for nine.
With Yadav bowling his allotted overs, the new partnership of Collinson and Evans began to accelerate with consistent boundaries.
Twentyman looked as if he had potentially stopped the bleeding when he removed Evans for 19 thanks to a catch from Stevenson, but Collinson was in a class of his own, dissecting the Magpies to get the Colts home safely.
Collinson finished just shy of a well-deserved half-century on 48 not out alongside captain Rhys Wagstaff on three.
Davies and Yadav opened the door for the Magpies to cause the upset, finishing with figures of 2/29 and 1/22 respectively.