What appeared to be drifting towards a one-sided affair, the East v South Gambier contest in round 9 of the 2021/22 Hoggies Wines Barber Shield season was brought to life in the final half hour of Saturday’s play.
Following an inspirational effort from Kev Thomson with the ball, the Demons were in the mire once again being bowled out for another under-par score of an even 100.
East looked to be cruising at 1/29 from six overs until South lifted with the ball and in the field.
The fightback was led by Jakob Opie and Robert Drenthen and bit the Bulldogs hard, blowing the game wide open with the scoreboard reading 4/44 at stumps.
Before 14 wickets tumbled, batting was looking rather comfortable when Dan Loupos and Ryan Kuhl were at the crease.
After being sent in by the hosts and blocking out two maidens to start the day, South’s openers showed some maturity to negotiate the first hour.
Making up for the absence of express paceman Alex Hentschke, teenagers Matt Bennett and Liam Turley shared the new pill, but lacked the venom of their usual captain, so Thomson changed the pace and was rewarded for the move.
Kuhl could only extract three runs from his 55-ball stay, while his partner Loupos found scoring much easier collecting 24 until the duo departed the crease in back-to-back overs.
Stephen Easterbrook, Nicholas Seager and Robert Drenthen all came and went, while Jasvir Singh offered some promise reaching 10 before being clean bowled.
The pace-off bowling of Thomson, Travis Younghusband and Ben Hentschke proved too much for the Demons’ middle order.
A steady 0/24 had suddenly turned to 6/42 and South was holding out for a hero.
Back from injury, Demons’ captain Cam Jorgensen took out the long handle and got off the mark with a big six of Hentschke’s leg breaks, while Michael Sims also placed some pressure back onto the Bulldogs with a couple of boundaries.
However, the dots were back in town before too long with only two runs being scored from the next 30 balls.
Sims got frustrated, played a big shot was bowled by Hentschke for nine.
Jorgensen (31) then took matters into his own hands with his partner Ethan Sims scoring just one of their gutsy 27-run stand.
Just when they hoped to be on the verge of guiding South out of trouble, both batters fell to Thomson, who was on a tear.
Thomson went on to put the cherry on top of a lovely day to dismiss the number 11 for a duck and finish with the outstanding figures 6/34 from 22 overs, while Hentschke and Younghusband also claimed two wickets with impressive holding efforts.
Thomson’s day was slightly ruined by Drenthen, who knocked him over for a two-ball duck.
Despite the early breakthrough, Leigh Von Duve and Jimmy Sullivan showed some guts to put East back on track.
The pair was building confidence to wipe a quarter of the deficit off until a misunderstanding between the wickets ran out Sullivan and triggered a mini collapse.
Turley’s stumps were disturbed next ball, while Von Duve’s 20 was also finished by Opie.
South had the chance to inflict more pain on the home side, but standing in for his brother as skipper Hentschke alongside Emerson Marks survived the final 6.3 overs until stumps.
