Sunbury is finally on the winners’ list after four rounds of Gisborne and District Cricket’s McIntyre Cup.
Last year’s runners-up struggled with availability and injury in the first three rounds, leaving them bottom of the ladder.
All that changed with victory over Gisborne on Saturday.
After declaring at 9-152 on day one of the match a week earlier, Sunbury put Gisborne on the back foot at 4-45 early on day two.
And despite a middle-order fightback, Gisborne was all out for 146.
Sunbury captain Jason McGann (45) top-scored with the bat and was also the pick of the bowlers with 5-42.
Sunbury secretary Marty Kelders said availability had been a big issue early on.
“Key players have only been available for a couple of matches,” he said.
“And Justin Nelson, who came across from Flemington, broke his finger in the second game and hasn’t played since.
“It upset our batting a little.”
Kelders said the off-season losses of Jason Elliott and Mark Corcoran were also having an impact.
“We did our best to recruit players, but players have chosen not to come to Sunbury,” he said. “We haven’t been able to replace players we’ve lost.
“We’ve got young talent coming through, but it takes a couple of years to get them up to McIntyre Cup standard.”
Kelders said the Landt brothers, Jack and Dylan, were younger players leading the way.
“Dylan played a few matches last year and Jack is coming of age,” he said.
Kelders said that despite the poor start to the season, all was not doom and gloom at Sunbury … the club had only one win from the opening six matches last season before going on to make the grand final.
“Jason [McGann] is our key and if we can build our team around him we will be competitive,” Kelders said.
“The next couple of matches, against Diggers Rest Bulla and Sunbury United, could have a big bearing on the season.
“It’s a really tight competition and we need things to go our way again. If we can get players on the park, people had better watch out.”
