Tara Murray
Unbeaten and happy with the Gisborne and District Cricket Association McIntyre Cup season so far, Gisborne knows the hard work is only beginning.
The Dragons find themselves in a similar position as they were at this time last year and are keen not to see a repeat when they were knocked out in the semi finals.
Dragons captain Jarryd Vernon said they weren’t content with how things were.
“It’s been a good season so far, hopefully we keep going,” he said.
“We spoke about it [last season] before Christmas. It’s more about concentrating on the things that we can control.
“Hopefully in the back end of the year we can do them well. Last year we lost one game and were knocked out in the semi finals, we don’t want that to happen again.
“The last couple of weeks we have been sticking to our plans and what we know and hopefully that will get the job done.”
Vernon said they still had things to work on, like fielding, and they would continue to work hard on that at training.
He said they thought they had one area they had improved on from last season.
“The young guys are going to be a point of difference going into finals from last season,” he said.
“The young kids have another year of playing first XI cricket. Will Mackay and Spencer Jones have really stepped up with the bat.
“We’re not relying on one or two guys and it’s really pleasing we can trust these guys to do a job.”
The Dragons added another win to the books on Saturday, beating Macedon.
Chasing 175, the Dragons finished 9-222 from their overs. The Cats then finished 3-68 in their second innings.
While it was a convincing win on paper, Vernon said they were disappointed.
“The bowlers did the job on day one and we chased down the runs, which was nice,” he said.
“We were disappointed not to bat the day out. It was a good opportunity for some of the younger guys to get out and have a hit in the middle.
“They didn’t and hopefully they will learn from it.”
The star on day two of the match was Vernon himself, hitting 123 off 120 balls, after a good start on day one.
It was Vernon’s second century for the season.
“It’s nice to get some runs,” he said “It’s been a bit of a tough start to the year but I’m finding a bit of form which is always nice.
“I just want to contribute to the team and we can hopefully keep that going.”
The Dragons next match is against Sunbury United, a two-day match starting on Saturday.
Vernon said it would be another good challenge for them and they would hopefully continue their unbeaten run.
In other results on Saturday, Romsey also remains undefeated after a big win against Romsey, Rupertswood had a disappointing day to lose to Sunbury United and the Sunbury Kangaroos beat Diggers Rest Bulla.
