In a match that could go down as the battle of grand final weekend, Kyabram Fire Brigade claimed the Gus Underwood C-grade shield by a single wicket.

Played at Windridge Oval in Rochester, it was a scintillating Goulburn Murray Cricket encounter between the Flames and Bamawm-Lockington United.

The Lions took the opportunity to bat first when the toss went in their favour, and openers Charlie McIntyre and Adrian Flett set a solid platform for their side’s success.

It was slow going, but the pair was approaching 40 before Flett fell on 26.

He had been the faster scoring of the duo, and his departure triggered a downturn in the run-rate.

The innings progressed at a reasonable pace, but no BLU batter was able to carve out a significant stay.

McIntyre, run out for 18, captain Tom Isedale’s 21 and Jason Turner’s 15 the other double-figure scores.

When the last wicket fell, it amounted to 127 runs on the board for BLU.

While no means a runaway total, it was one the Lions would have felt could be defended.

Sam Vick (3-26) made three breakthroughs for the Fire Brigade, while Dan Mott chipped in with two and Steven Grima and Ben Chapman snagged one each.

The Flames' top order sought to put the game beyond doubt early, each of the top three making useful contributions to the chase.

Jeff Turpin (18), Barry McLeod (23) and Brenton Sheppard (40) were the top three scorers in the innings and, by the time Sheppard departed, Fire Brigade was approaching 100.

However, the batting was confined to those top three, with the middle and lower order giving way, leaving the game well in the balance.

The ninth wicket fell with Fire Brigade still five runs behind BLU’s total.

It was up to Dan Mott and Jedd Turpin to bring home the title.

The pair saw off a slew of dot balls while knocking around four runs to put the side on the precipice, before a wayward delivery resulted in two byes and the title for Fire Brigade.

Justin Guppy’s efforts almost got his BLU side home as he took 3-25, while Gideon Flett and Jason Turner both took two wickets.

In the other lower grade grand finals, Echuca avenged its 2023-24 B-grade Goulburn grand final defeat to Stanhope, getting its win back over the Lions 6-181 to 108.

In B-grade Murray, Cooma cemented its season-long domination with victory over Leitchville-Gunbower.

Cooma won by eight wickets, chasing down 128 in 27 overs.

The D-grade decider was somewhat of an anti-climax, with Rushworth comfortably retaining the shield.

After bowling out Stanhope for just 44 runs, the Tigers lost only one wicket in the less than 15-over run chase.

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Tuesday, 18th February 2025

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