Haisman Shield ǀ Cats and Lakers prep for crunch-time qualifier at Cattery

By James Kleeman

Mar 3, 2022

Here we go again: Mooroopna’s Haisman Shield title defence reaches the pointy end this Saturday against Nagambie. Photo by Rodney Braithwaite

Mooroopna’s quest for back-to-back Haisman Shield premierships will begin in earnest this weekend, when the Cats clash with Nagambie in a make-or-break qualifying final at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve.

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Both outfits sail into the qualifiers in some form.

Nagambie’s record speaks for itself — four wins on the spin since January had the Lakers fly up the Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield ladder, a win against none other than Mooroopna in round 12 triggering their last-minute finals surge.

Six wins in seven starts since Christmas has surprised many, but for the Lakers, their new year form showed exactly what this side is capable of and those that underestimated it paid a heavy price.

As for the Cats, they’ve done it the hard way.

A new year stutter almost derailed their campaign, player shortages severely hampering the side at an integral point of the season.

Luke Zanchetta and his men stayed the course; cool heads prevailing to collect much-needed victories in their final two encounters.

A clutch round 14 victory against Old Students put the beleaguered side back on track, after its match against Katandra the week previous was postponed due to player shortages.

A handy Ethan Anderson (53) half-ton and some clean hitting from Jake Wright (48) proved vital after the Cats’ top-order faltered.

Wright (2-27), Zanchetta (2-37) and most notably, Jack Gaskill (4-32), tore through the Students’ batting card to clinch the win.

Fresh in the Lakers’ minds will be their round 12 triumph over the Cats, a Brayden Biggs (3-25) bowling blitz toppling Mooroopna for a measly 129.

Replicating that bowling performance this weekend could be paramount for the visitors.

Interestingly, both sides have taken the same amount of wickets this season (101), while scoring almost exactly the same amount of runs, only 15 the difference between them.

It’s no secret that both batting line-ups have struggled this season, Central Park-St Brendan’s and Kyabram, who sandwich the two sides on the ladder, have scored 400 more runs throughout the campaign.

It may prove to be a matter of which bowling attack fires first this weekend, with much of the match likely to hedge on the toss.