Stirling won their first Hills Cricket Association (HCA) ‘A’ grade premiership in 28 years after defeating Meadows by seven wickets yesterday in the Grand Final at Meadows Oval. The Eagles had to do it the hard way after finishing in fourth spot on the ladder as they won three finals in a row to clinch the Von Doussa Shield. The game was played in perfect conditions at Meadows with the Bulldogs winning the toss and batting first. Stirling got off to a great start as the dangerous opening pair of Haydn Reid (5) and Luke Tonkin (3) were dismissed early to leave Meadows in trouble at 2/10. Meadows skipper Rohan Reid joined Anthony Hughes (17) in a steadying partnership worth 34 runs before Oscar Tydeman (10) added 26 runs for the fourth wicket with his skipper. Stirling were keeping it tight as they restricted the home side to 5/125 from their 40 overs with Rohan Reid carrying the innings with 65 not out (112 balls). Chris Shaw (2/32), Jack Read (1/12), Jack Pick (1/25) and Dan Parfitt (1/28) were the wicket takers for Stirling. 

Meadows got off to a perfect start in the field with Tom Bevan-Giles (1/18) dismissing Stirling opener Daniel Gonzalez without scoring. His opening partner Jack Read took the bowling on and hit a quickfire 59 from just 60 balls (9 x 4’s) to take the game away from the Bulldogs. He and Pick (13) added 79 runs for the second wicket before Kosta Sinodinos (13 not out) and Harrison Webb (35 not out) saw the Eagles home in the 28th over with seven wickets in hand. Chad Dawe (2/27) was the other wicket taker for Meadows. 

“It was a really special day for the club,” said Stirling skipper Jack Pick. “There have been some dark days in the past, and we’ve put in plenty of hard work, but yesterday made it all worthwhile. It’s not just special for the 11 that played, but for guys like Pete Fryer, Steve McGregor and some of the older guys who stuck around and held the club together. After a bit of a disappointing end to the minor round we knew that we didn’t have any room for error but we were confident that our best was good enough. To beat the top three sides, all away from home, was a massive effort. The development of our young core was also really pleasing and shows the importance of putting time and effort into the junior Eagles.”