Haisman Shield | Waaia claims minor premiership with clinical win over Jets

All eyes at Waaia Recreation Reserve were also on what was unfolding at Deakin Reserve, as Central Park-St Brendan’s capitulated in its pursuit of Shepparton United’s 99, handing the Bombers the minor premiership.

Waaia captain Brayden Carey said his team was thrilled to enter the finals series as the competition’s top seed.

“(Finishing first) makes you feel a lot more comfortable, with all six teams that have made it through they all have their players that can beat you on any given day, it is nice to know that if you have a bad one you get a second crack,” Carey said.

“We won’t be focusing on that though; we will be thinking more about making it through (to the grand final) and maintaining that first position.”

In what was a do-or-die scenario for the Jets, captain Harvey Walker won the toss and decided to bat in the hope of putting the undefeated Waaia under pressure with runs on the board.

But Trower had other ideas, quickly getting into his work with two early scalps, including the dangerous Joel Brett for a duck, to have Northerners in a world of trouble at 3-15.

Seeing their season slowly slip away, Ben Pedretti (60 not out) stood up for the Jets, absorbing the pressure and then looking to score as he went about rebuilding the innings with Mitch Brett (20).

With the aim of giving his bowlers something to defend, the aggressive Nick Breslin (35 not out) then joined the gritty opener for the final overs, with the pair putting on an unbeaten 76-run partnership to see them to a respectable 146.

Needing to produce their absolute best to keep their season alive, Northerners could not pick up the vital early breakthroughs as the reliable Evans and Mitch Cleeland saw off the new ball and began to attack.

Evans was particularly impressive for the home side, showing his class with a pivotal half-century, while Cleeland (31) and Carey (30) provided great support as they clinically worked their way to the target.

A trio of late wickets would wallpaper over some cracks for the Jets, but it truly was the Bombers’ day, reaching the target in 41.5 overs with five wickets in hand.

Carey said knocking off a dangerous side like Northerners would give his team great confidence heading into the finals.

“We have rated them really highly and thought with that batting line-up they can trouble any team, so we set it up as like a finals match with an opportunity to knock a team out of the race, so to play like we did gives us a lot of confidence,” he said.

“That momentum heading into the finals is so important, so with Numurkah this week we know how much of a challenge that will be and we cannot wait to get into it.”