THE challenge of overcoming an early-season player shortage gave Wangoom extra reason to celebrate its emotional Grassmere Cricket Association B grade premiership yesterday.
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In a dramatic comeback, Wangoom dismissed Purnim for 92 to claim a 19-run victory, the Goomers' first B grade flag since it rejoined the association about 15 years ago.
Wangoom captain Nick Kermond addressed his elated team after the game and highlighted the obstacles his players had overcome during a tough season.
"It just goes to show that never-say-die attitude pulls through," he said.
"If you had said two weeks ago that we would come away with the premiership, none of us would even have believed it."
He attributed the slow start to a lack of numbers and runs.
"It's tough sometimes playing short. In second grade cricket you are obviously feeding the first grade and get whatever is left. But we had a nucleus of about seven players that played each week and it really built from there," he said.
The club contemplated not fielding an A grade side this season before promoting a number of young players to the top grade.
An emotional Kermond described the victory as a relief.
"We weren't favourites coming in," he said.
"Our batting was a bit suspect through the season and we had some tough matches in the finals. But we had nothing to lose, which got us over the line."
Now with the taste of victory, the Goomers hope to use their youth to push for future premierships.
"We'll build with the younger players, get them the experience in B grade and get them some A grade games," Kermond said.
He said Wangoom did not rely on individuals throughout the season.
"The good thing about the year was that we didn't have any standouts. It was just everyone pitching in every now and then," Kermond said.
But Chris Pronk's innings of 42, including four boundaries and a six on Saturday, held the Goomers' innings together before Kermond (5-18 off 28 overs) and Leon Kenny (3-38 off 28 overs) destroyed Purnim's pursuit of 112 for victory.
Greg Billington was the standout for Purnim, top-scoring with 31 runs and taking 5-19 off 17.4 overs.
Purnim captain Anthony Eccles said his group was "disappointed" about losing the tight affair.
"We bowled really well," he said. "We just didn't have much luck with the bat.
"The boys are a bit down about it, especially because it was such a close game."
