Having battled for top spot on the ladder all season and splitting their home and away meetings, the two sides faced off for glory at Greenhill Reserve in Wallan at the weekend, with the Eagles winning the toss and electing to bat first.
It was a disastrous start, however, as opener Michael Brown found himself trudging back to the sheds without scoring, leaving Eastern Hill a wicket down without a run on the board.
Jake Wright and Benjamin Bryant steadied to form a nice partnership, adding 43 in tandem before Wright was removed for 25, however that would be the biggest partnership of the Eagles’ innings as Wallan began to assert itself with the ball.
Both Benjamin and Ollie Bryant were strong contributors with the bat, adding 29 and 22, respectively, while skipper Seamus Feery made a patient 21 as the top order all made starts, but were unable to continue on.
Daniel O’Sullivan (18 no) and Dallas Bergowicz (16) chipped in with lower order runs, however the Eagles could manage just 9-150 from their 75 overs in the face of some tight Wallan bowling.
With just 150 runs on the board, Eastern Hill’s defence on day two got off to a brilliant start, as Wallan opener Matthew Clayton was run out early on in proceedings to leave the home side at 1-6.
But a key partnership for the second wicket yielded 56 runs for Wallan before Benjamin Bryant (1-36) found the wicket of Spencer Whittingham (40), and while there was still hope with Wallan at 2-60, more quick wickets would be needed.
Unfortunately for Eastern Hill, there would be just one more scalp for the entire contest, as Daniel O’Sullivan snared the wicket of Nathan Fowler (29) to reduce Wallan to 3-97, before opposing skipper Bryan Vance (40 no) and Ryan Cumberland (36 no) added 54 together to guide their side to a seven-wicket victory.
The finish is a disappointing end to Eastern Hill’s season, having overcome a slow start to win 11 games on the trot heading into the grand final, however with a complete GDCA season now under their belts, the Eagles should prove to be a force once again next campaign.
