Mooroopna captain Luke Zanchetta served up that morsel of praise aimed at Jack Gaskill after the all-rounder rallied late to compound his side’s shellacking of Northerners on Saturday.
Gaskill, who had taken four wickets the weekend prior, chimed in with a superb half-century at Tallygaroopna Recreation Reserve to push Mooroopna to 9-217 and into a home qualifying final against Kyabram.
Mooroopna chased down Northeners’ 71-run total on day one and seized Saturday’s second-day outing as a chance for batting practice, with seven of the visitors’ order venturing into double digits.
Yet Gaskill was the only one to raise the blade.
The number eight batter slashed his way to reward on a low and slow wicket, reaching his 54 off 34 balls with three fours and four sixes scattered among the innings.
Gaskill’s rampage was finally stopped by Stuart Turner (4-87) after being dropped along the way, but his daring approach was admired by Zanchetta.
“Gaskill’s been coming in down the middle-lower order and just taking the game back to the bowlers,” he said.
“Sometimes fortune favours the brave and you get dropped a couple of times, but it’s really impressive the way he’s taken the game on and just played with no fear.
“(Saturday) was more just about getting time in the middle for our players, having a really good hit out.”
Brodie McDonald (44) and Matt Price (35) were among Mooroopna’s main contributors on the day, while Turner was the Jets’ best with the ball alongside Josh Sidebottom (3-45).
The loss, Northerners’ fourth on the spin, brings a campaign filled with so much promise pre-Christmas to an end as Turner’s troops finish the season in 10th.
Meanwhile, Mooroopna now turns its attention to Kyabram.
THE GAME
Northerners 71 (Stuart Turner 25*, Luke Zanchetta 5-43, Jack Gaskill 4-16) lost to Mooroopna 9-217 (Jack Gaskill 54, Brodie McDonald 44, Stuart Turner 4-87)
STAR PLAYER
Jack Gaskill (Mooroopna): You don’t have to look far to see who rose above the rest in this one. Four wickets and a half-century is exactly the form Gaskill would be aiming to hit on the eve of finals.
The Redbacks pulled off the unthinkable against Karramomus in a final-day showing of biblical proportions to catapult into the top six.
And, after Mooroopna only just scraped through by one wicket in its round five clash against Kyabram, Zanchetta is bracing himself for an almighty battle.
“It seems every time we play Ky, at least in my time, it’s always been a hard-fought and competitive game, so we’re expecting no less,” he said.
“Obviously (in) the game this year we were quite lucky to get over the line there.
“It’s a massive challenge for us. They’ll be pretty happy and flying quite high after the win on the weekend.
“The last hour and a half there, the table was chopping and changing all over the place. I suppose it’s good for the competition when the final spots go right down to the last hour of the last round."
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