Winning the toss on day one, Toc decided to bat first.
Unfortunately the side fell into early trouble with a couple of early wickets.
The Cats were able to maintain their energy and bowling throughout the innings.
Pete Harrison initially got the ball rolling for the Bloods with an assured 28 before being bowled by a good yorker.
This bought together a fantastic partnership of Reilly Rennick and Hayden White.
They ran hard and worked well together to bring Toc to a better position.
Hayden scored a well made 24, and Reilly made a fantastic 51 before being run out.
It was his first half century in A-grade.
Unfortunately Toc lost more quick wickets before Tom White (15 not out) and Andrew Arthur (30 not out) put on an unbroken partnership to 9/199 off 69 overs.
For Finley, Archie Mason (3/55 off 22 overs) and Jono Cattell (4/42 off 20 overs) produced the bulk of wickets.
Toc declared with 11 overs to go in the day and took to the field trying to get some quick wickets.
Cougar McGrath (37) and Cameron Isedale (0) went out to bat for Finley.
An early wicket saw Toc gain some momentum, which didn’t last long with a partnership between McGrath and Harrison King (22) putting Finley in the box seat at 1/43 after 11 overs.
When play resumed on Saturday, the Bloods took to the field needing some quick wickets to put the pressure back on Finley.
Andy, Reilly and Andrew Lean started well keeping things tight with regular wickets starting to fall.
It was slow going with Finley starting to get going in their partnerships, but Toc kept taking wickets regularly to not let them get away.
The Cats headed back to Toc on Saturday with 80 overs to bat and 157 runs needed.
However it wasn’t meant to be for the young Cats, with wickets falling throughout the innings.
Roree Wallis (19 not out) contributed his highest score and batted with a clear head and plan to hold up an end for 49 overs.
Cameron Lawler also went out to the middle determined, and was able to put on a well made 22.
Finley finally got going and looked to start taking the game away from Toc before an injection of energy in the field and some tight bowling from Tom Oliver got the breakthrough the Bloods needed before tea.
After tea things happened quickly, with Tom Oliver taking 4/22 and Reilly getting himself a well deserved wicket.
The Cats were bowled out for 137 after 63 overs.
Finley’s Finley Bakery & Patisserie players’ player award went to Roree Wallis.
•••
Finley’s under-17s crcketers had a tough end to the season against Cobram on Thursday.
The Cats were bowled out twice in 40 overs, giving Cobram an outright win.
The highlights of the game were in the second innings with Jonty King making 30 after hitting a couple of big sixes.
Harvey Sneddon also batted well to make 13.
• Reports for other Finley and Tocumwal Cricket Club grades were not received in time for publication.
8°C