Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
CRICKETERS Arms Journeymen will tackle Club Dubbo in this season's McDonald's Megahit final after the RSL-Colts affiliate took out last Friday's semi-final against Christie's Crackerjacks.
Most of the pre-match talk centred around in-form batsmen Greg Buckley (Journeymen) and Keiran Brien (Crackerjacks) but it was left to their teammates to light up No.1 Oval.
The Journeymen batted first after being sent in and were in early strife as Angus Cusack removed Jason Ryan (6).
Buckley (26) and Matt Keenan piled on a 48-run second-wicket stand but when Cusack (2-25) and Shane Dupille (1-35) removed them quickly the match was in the balance.
Skipper Chris Morton and all-rounder Wes Giddings then helped their side assert some dominance.
Giddings (61no) was particularly brutal as the pair combined for a 76-run partnership, with Morton's 30 also proving valuable in the end.
At the end of their 20 overs the Journeymen were 4-156, with Cusack the pick of the Crackerjacks bowlers.
With a grand final spot up for grabs the Crackerjacks were always going to need to start well but when Brien fell to Tim Cox in the first over it was the Journeymen who had the momentum.
But a 49-run stand between brothers Ed and Joe Haylock saw the momentum swing back in favour of the underdogs.
Joe Haylock (45) was particularly brutal, clubbing five boundaries and two sixes before being caught on the boundary shortly after his sibling departed for 12.
Those dismissals formed part of a patch where the Crackerjacks lost 5-28 as their team total of 1-55 turned into 6-83.
Young star Dalton Medcalf then threatened to single-handedly carry his side to victory as he belted the Journeymen bowlers around No.1 Oval on his way to a quickfire 41, however the final four wickets fell in quick succession to see the Crackerjacks bowled out for 119 in the 16th over.
Cox and Giddings each finished with three wickets for the Journeymen, while Nathan Jones and Jono Woodbridge each bagged two.