Mt Barker make it back-to-back titles in dominant fashion, crushing arch rivals Royals in ADCA A-grade decider

Mt Barker completed their quest for back-to-back premierships with a crushing win over arch rivals Royals in the Albany and Districts Cricket Association A-grade grand final on Saturday. A year on from their famous drought-breaking premiership, the Bulls produced a remarkable performance in the title deciding fixture, thumping the Lions by nine wickets at Turf North. The reigning premiers were set the small target of 73 to win after a rampant bowling display stunned the Lions who were skittled inside 37 overs. They reached that target with ease as man-of-the-match Alex Fergie put on a clinic with the bat, steering his side home with a classy 45-run knock, sparking joyful scenes among Bulls players and supporters. After winning the toss and electing to bat, the Lions never really gained significant momentum in their innings and lost crucial wickets early. Ted Batchelor was the first to go, clean bowled by Bulls’ spearhead Nathan Crudeli for a duck in the third over. Opener Myles Holland fell soon after for five, Crudeli running him out as he attempted a quick single. From that point, things only got worse for the Lions’ with talisman Mitch Green cutting a Fergie delivery to Steven Scott at gully to be dismissed for three before Jack Hastie was skittled two balls later by Fergie for a duck. Top scorer Lincoln Joy (15) was removed in the 17th over and Matt France followed him to the pavilion for 11 shortly after as the Lions crumbled to 6-44. Tail-ender Hayden Davies (10) showed some fight towards the back end of the contest but they lost 4-28 to be all out for 72. Four separate Bulls players finished with multiple wickets — Crudeli (2-8 from nine overs), Jeremy Wood (2-16 from 10), Fergie (2-13 from four) and Jarrad Gardner (2-2). The Lions had a glimmer of hope as Teague Valli took the scalp of captain Wood in the second over of the Bulls’ run chase but that would be their only joy for the day. Fergie and Neil Ferreira (20no) put on a game-winning 63-run stand together to guide the Bulls to a dominant victory. Fergie hit six fours on his way to 45 off 41 balls while Ferreira chipped in with 20 off 29 with two fours. Bulls captain Wood said the win carried extra significance for the team and town of Mt Barker. “It was massive, I can’t really describe how much it probably does mean for Mt Barker in general,” he said. “You always strive for it but they’re always hard to get (premierships), I think we showed how we were pretty ruthless in getting it done. “We never took them lightly, we knew we had our work cut out to beat them and we just strung together a really good back end of the season with pressure cricket and we managed to bring that again on Saturday. “It’s what Barker sport needs, a bit of sustained success and it’s sort of promoted the game again with the amount of people that came to watch, they’re all talking about it.” “Taking early wickets is always key, getting Lincoln (Joy) and Greeny (Mitch Green) out early was a big part of beating them. “We didn’t really give them a lot, the pressure and the fielding was pretty relentless.” Wood praised the performance of Fergie on the big stage. “Alex (Fergie) set the tone in the first over batting, he just didn’t let them settle in and when you’re chasing those small totals, there’s nothing worse than losing a couple of early wickets,” Wood said. “The pressure is always there even though we we’re just chasing 70-odd, he just went the right way about it so credit to him and the work he’s put in to get there, it couldn’t have happened to a better bloke.” Lions captain Green lamented a poor start with the bat. “It was a disappointing performance, we’ve probably been in that position three times against Mt Barker this season,” he said. “Credit to them, they’re a really good bowling side and they took key wickets in clumps. “We never got a partnership going and 72 was never going to be enough. “From our end we’ve still got a really young side coming through and it’s the same thing with Barker, they’ve got some really good depth. “It’s been a really healthy rivalry the last three years and I’m sure it will continue next year.”