Lakers sweep aside The Rail to claim South Coast premiership

The Lakers lost just one match all season, a final round first-innings defeat to Oak Flats, and repeatedly exhibited their superiority over their rivals. This weekend was no different.

Ulcigrai was proud of the way the team fought hard with the ball on Saturday on a low and slow wicket to lay the platform for their outright victory.

“We set out at the start of the season with a plan to win as many games as possible and win all three trophies,” Ulcigrai said. “To lose one innings all season, you can’t be happier.

“I can’t praise our guys enough in that first innings, we did the hard work. Apart from the wicket being slow, the conditions pretty good for batting. They didn’t play well enough for the conditions and we bowled in the right areas.”

After winning the toss and choosing to bowl, fast bowler Aaron Henry and captain Mark Ulcigrai immediately put a stop to any thoughts of a Razorbacks upset victory. 

After taking nine wickets in last week’s semi-final, Henry took 4-27 off 17 overs as The Rail were bowled out for 73. Ulcigrai took four wickets of his own and Brendan White claimed 2-8.

The Lakers then dug in with the bat, overcoming the loss of a couple of early wickets to claim a first innings lead and reach 5-217 at stumps on Saturday night. 

Once again, wicketkeeper Ryan Maguire was the rock in the middle order, adding a crucial 66 runs, while David Lambert was 55 not out at the close. The duo combined for a 124-run stand.

Lambert was ultimately dismissed for 61 on Sunday morning, with Lake all out for 263.

“We lost a couple of wickets early, then Brendan White got 34 and got out. Ryan and David batted together and got 66 and 61 with the bat and were really strong. Everyone else was a bit below par, but by that stage it was the second day and we had a 150-run lead.”

With the option to call the game, The Rail chose to play on, hoping to pull off a miracle comeback. There was no such comeback in the works. 

Ulcigrai and Henry again combined to wreak havoc on the Razorbacks top order, taking two wickets apiece before Ulcigrai was forced to leave the field. Brendan White picked up where Ulcigrai left off, however, claiming 4-13 off just 4.4 overs. 

The Rail were bowled out for 113, securing the 77-run win for Lake Illawarra. 

“It was good that it was not one guy all season that stood up, everyone chipped in. It wasn’t the same person every week, but a great team effort. 

“It’s good to have a bunch of guys that were willing to put in 100 per cent every week. The last six weeks of the season, we didn’t really train and were poor on the field. But the last fortnight, I tip my hat to the guys, they wanted to win that third trophy.

“They knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park and had to lift their game and they did so.”