SIX years of grand final heartache ended for Sam Uphill and his teammates on Tuesday.
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Easts produced a bowling masterclass, led by Tyson Burey, to claim the Armidale District Cricket Association one-day premiership by 54 runs at the Armidale Sportsground.
“For some of the other guys it was pretty exciting, but for a couple of us it was more like relief,” Uphill said of finally winning a premiership.“We haven’t won one in about six years.
“We’ve gotten to a grand final a lot of times and not played our best cricket.”
Uphill won the toss and elected to wield the willow first on a good batting surface.
Although the overnight rain meant runs were still hard to come by.
“Value for shots wasn’t there with the outfield,” Uphill said.
“It was a good batting deck, but it was good to bowl on as well.”
Easts were on the back foot early with opener Dean Moore [3] falling cheaply.
Moore’s demise brought soon-to-be grand final hero Josh Taylor to the crease.
Taylor [57] combined with Aaron Whackett [21] for a crucial second-wicket stand that drew enormous praise from Uphill.
“Josh is a quiet achiever,” Uphill said.
“He’s had a really good year for us.
“It was always the plan to bat around him.
“And Aaron Whackett did really well to see off the new ball.”
Whackett eventually fell LBW to Scott Brennan [1-44] with the score on 58, but Taylor kept chugging.
He put on a further 65 runs with Todd Francis [32] as Easts built towards a grand final winning total.
They eventually made their way to 7-173, a score Uphill felt would be hard to chase on a slow outfield.
“I thought that was probably worth 210 or 220,” he said.
“I thought we were on top and if we took early wickets we would be in with a big show.”
Take early wickets they did, and crucial ones at that.
Star trio Michael Dawson [14], Matt Baillie [9] and Matt Schafer [1] all fell before the score reached 35 thanks to a brutal spell by Burey [3-23].
“That’s the best he’s bowled since he’s been here,” Uphill said.
Hillgrove captain Brad King [39] provided the only real resistance, but once he fell to Todd Francis [3-35] it was only a matter of time until new premiers would be crowned.
Uphill said the fantastic culture in the club this season has been a big factor in their success.
“There is a different feeling around the club at the moment,” he said.
“We are all mates outside of cricket.”
Easts will now turn their attention to the two-day competition where they take on an improved City side at the Armidale Sportsground tomorrow.
“Hopefully we can go back to back and win both grand finals,” Uphill said.
