The West Wimmera Warriors are set to meet the Noradjuha Toolondo Bullants in Horsham's A grade grand final on March 18 and 19.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The showdown off the season's top two sides was made official following the clubs semi final wins.
Batting first in their fixture, the Warriors posted a total of 127 against Homers.
The Warriors saw a shaky start to their innings, with Homer's bowler, Mark Mbofana, taking out the off-stump of both openers in three balls.
A third wicket partnership proved critical for the minor premiers with Jeremy Weeks and Nathan Alexander combining for 63 runs, Alexander was the innings top scorer with 34 runs.
Wicket-keeper, Adam Atwood was kept busy behind the stumps, taking three catches, including that of Alexander.
A slow start for Homers response never picked up, no batsmen in their team managed to escape single figures.
It took 42 overs for the Warriors to claim victory, with both Alexander, and Xavier Bone taking five wickets each.
Bullants booked their spot in the final by overcoming the Rup-Minyip.
With four wickets and a top score of 84 runs, Bullants's Matthew Combe starred in the fixture.
Combe's bowling saw the Rup-Minyip middle order collapse, losing three wickets for no score.
He picked up the wickets of Jamie Byrne and Daniel Schaper on consecutive balls.
With Combe's 84 supported by scores in the twenties by Shane Oakley, Garrett Liston and Troy Dumesny, the Bullants declared their innings at 5/176, taking victory by 102 runs.
Elsewhere, Laharum and Rup-Minyip's B grade squads also booked their spot in the final.
Laharum met Lubeck-Murtoa at Horsham's Coughlin park .
Number three batsmen, Ben Peucker, brought up 123 runs in Laharum's innings before his wicket fell to Logan Petering.
The centurion combined with Daniel Griffiths' 58 to put together a 106-run partnership that eventually saw Laharum's innings close at 6/259.
A score of 47 from Lubeck-Murtoa's Joshua Hedt, gave the response promise, but the team eventually fell 126 runs short.
Joshua Mahoney did the damage to the middle order, while Jackson Hoffman and Tristan Hilbig made quick work of the tail, The three final wickets falling without effecting the score.
Read also: Central Park surge into pennant grand final
A closer affair was contested between Rup-Minyip and the Horsham Saints.
Saints' opener, Mark Crafter, began the first innings strong, with 38 runs, but Rup-Minyip's bowler, Clinton Midgley, proved to strong for Saints's defenses, he took seven wickets in his 14 overs.
Opener, Tim Sostheim, and first drop, Dezi Carter, both fell to Midgley's bowling, both walking for second-ball ducks
The Saint's turned the tables on Rup-Minyip in the second innings, only three batsmen escaped single figures, Nicholas Hudson (25), Heath Talbot (28) and Gavin Young (10)
Aiden Laffy and Jono Carroll pushed the Rup-Minyip batting order, taking four wickets each, but they passed the Saints' set total with three wickets in hand, finishing all-out for 87.
Horsham's C grade competition also played their semi-finals last weekend, with Homers and the West Wimmera Warriors setting course for a grand final collision.
Coming up against Laharum, Homers posted a first innings total of 111, with opener, Hugh Dougherty, hitting two 4's and one 6 to set the game's top score at 20 runs.
Laharum bowler, Jude Borlase's three wickets kept the Minor Premiers honest, but their 80-run response was not enough, with Clinton Garwood taking four wickets for three runs in his six overs.
The West Wimmera Warriors will be heading to the grand final having picked up a nine-wicket victory over Quantong.
Having shared the wickets around, with each member of their attack taking at least one, the Warriors were able to keep Quantong to an 80 run total.
Peter Brand put on 29 runs while Nick Caris added 23, but it was not enough to get them over the line.
Warriors Opener, Jordan Gurry, was the only casualty in West Wimmera's innings, falling after a 46-run partnership with Ash Dickinson.
Ash ended the innings alongside Jobe Dickinson, who top scored, with 29 runs, to claim victory in the 21st over.
John Hall
John is a news and sports journalist for the Wimmera Mail-Times, Stawell Times-News and Ararat Advertiser. He is a former apprentice mechanic who earned his bachelors degree in journalism from Macleay College in Sydney.
John is a news and sports journalist for the Wimmera Mail-Times, Stawell Times-News and Ararat Advertiser. He is a former apprentice mechanic who earned his bachelors degree in journalism from Macleay College in Sydney.
