McLaren tore through the Eagles’ batting order — with remarkable figures of 6-7 — as the ladder leaders finished their innings for a lowly 54 off 22.1 overs on their home deck at Katandra Recreation Reserve.
The Eagles’ stunning batting collapse began following the departure of Brady Black (16 runs) with the side on 2-31.
The next eight wickets fell for 23 runs as Katandra's stars failed to fire.
United's opening bowlers Sam Nash (3-22) and Chaminda Vidanapathirana (1-17) set the platform for young McLaren to steamroll the home side.
Needing 55 runs to claim first innings points, United was able to make the total with two wickets down on the back of another classy effort from Keegan Armstrong (69 not out).
It's the second week in a row the team on top of the Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield has suffered a shock upset result, following Mooroopna's win against Numurkah.
United captain Dwain Vidler was full of praise for the superb effort put in from his strike bowlers.
“To bowl them all out for such a small total was a great effort,” Vidler said.
“Our three quicks set the tone early and did an awesome job hitting the right areas.
“Everything just seemed to click.”
Vidler spoke highly of the man of the moment McLaren, saying he was pleased for the youngster to reap the rewards of hard work put in at training.
“I'm really happy for him, he's just turned 18 and has risen through the grades at the club since under-12s,” he said.
“He's a really good cricketer and kid and it was great to see him put in a breakout performance for his hard work.”
Just like McLaren with the ball, Armstrong was the star of the show in United's innings with the bat.
The opening batsman reached 40 runs for the fourth successive innings and has scored 228 from all four knocks.
And the wicketkeeper ended with six catches behind the stumps to complement his efforts with the bat.
United's skipper said the effort at the weekend was sure to give his side a boost in confidence.
“Definitely, it was good to see all the stuff that we talk about come off,” Vidler said.
“The competition is shaping up to be pretty close, but we know that we just need to keep executing the things we work on.”
THE GAME
Katandra 54 (Brady Black 16, Ethan McLaren 6-7, Sam Nash 3-22) lt
Shepparton United 3-129 (Keegan Armstrong 69 not out, Chris Rendina 24, Scott Richardson 2-11)
STAR PLAYER
Ethan McLaren (Shepparton United): No surprises here to see the teenager rewarded for his sublime 6-7 off 4.1 overs. It's a great effort in any grade of cricket to clinch a five-wicket haul, let alone against the mighty Katandra line-up. And the next time McLaren has the ball in hand, he'll be on a hat-trick.
