Haisman Rewind: The Central Park-St Brendan’s breakthrough that set the platform for the dynasty to come

For good reason – in the 200th and final over of the grand final on the third day of play, the Shepparton Cricket Association’s biggest prize was still up for grabs, if only by a flicker.

Tigers captain Bryan Doyle rounded the top of his short run-up and set eyes on Blues batter Rod McLeod, the spinner tasked with ensuring McLeod, on 73, or number 11 Chris O’Dwyer did not eclipse the 14 runs required to snatch one of league history’s unlikeliest of comeback wins.

The Blues had slumped to 6-185 at one stage in pursuit of the Combine’s 9-331 thanks to some dogged resistance from Liam Gledhill (30), Matt Ebborn and Phil Vines, following on from second drop Mark Brown’s 66.

Now with six deliveries to go, anything was possible.

Many in the Tigers’ camp at Deakin Reserve would have been comfortable enough in former Victorian offie Doyle’s graft to close out a maiden premiership for his side.

Instead, three deliveries into the 200th over, all hell broke loose.

McLeod swept over the keeper’s head for two, hit out to deep mid-wicket for two more, and then saved his best for last, launching a thunderous six over mid-on to wrench the needle of favouritism right back to dead centre, four off three balls the equation for the Blues.

But on 79 and within sight of a remarkable win, Numurkah’s number seven attempted one sweep too many.

Doyle’s fourth ball rapped McLeod on the pads and the adjudicating umpire concurred with what was described as a “raucous” appeal in Esson’s match report, raising the finger and bringing an end to Numurkah – and McLeod’s – defiant final stand.

The ecstatic Tigers had claimed victory by four runs in a finish etched into competition legend, a week after rain delays pushed the match to its reserve day.

Brown and Ian Sartori (33) had provided a platform for the Blues to work with, while Liam Gledhill, who resumed with McLeod on day three at 6-232, made a valuable contribution of 30.

Steve Reeves had played a vital role with the ball for the Tigers with figures of 4-60 off 24 miserly overs, Stephen Jennings and Jason Harling also breaking through at important junctures.

The Tigers had opted to bat first and mercurial opener Sam Ahmet, unsurprisingly, led the way, top-scoring with 98 before cracking a cut shot to Sartori at gully, two short of a grand final ton.

Kevin Hyde (61) and Doyle (45) then helped propel the Tigers to a more than defendable 331 despite the efforts of young tearaway quick Gledhill (3-66) and McLeod (4-88).

But despite a gallant effort from the Blues cohort, McLeod and O’Dwyer could only watch on as the final wicket of the game enticed a sea of Tigers faithful to flood Deakin Reserve, including the club’s B-grade premiers who had also beaten Numurkah by three runs.

But for the Combine’s A-grade squad, this was a significant moment in the club’s history.

It marked the club's first Haisman Shield since Central Park and St Brendan’s merged in 1981, kick-starting a 21st century dynasty that has yielded 10 Haisman Shield titles, including a run of seven in a row beginning in 2004-05.

For Numurkah, the 2000 decider was only the beginning of the Blues’ heartbreak; they fell to Karramomus 12 months later by two runs, but the club eventually broke its flag drought of 45 years in 2019.