Haisman Shield ǀ Redbacks rock Magpies thanks to Newman ton

“It was a fantastic batting display led by Paul Newman – 100 off 60 balls – it was a phenomenal effort," Redbacks coach Jackson McLay said, heaping praise on Newman as well as his lower-order hitters who stood tall on the day.

“Paul’s obviously a special player, it was a phenomenal knock and some very clean hitting,” he said.

“But all the boys contributed, and some late hitting from Cade Mueller was another fantastic knock too to get his first 50 of the year.”

After two consecutive losses to Mooroopna and Central Park-St Brendan’s, Kyabram found itself sitting in seventh spot after round six, well below the lofty expectations they set for themselves.

McLay said Saturday’s win puts his side in good stead as they gear up for the second half of the season.

“It was a good performance to go into the Christmas break, we were pretty keen to level up our win-loss ratio, and to go into the break with a good win like that will give us good confidence to go into the back half of the year,” he said.

The true depth of the Redback’s batting order was on display against Euroa, and after Newman was dismissed in the 24th over with 170 Kyabram runs on the board, Cade and Kyle Mueller got in on the action, (57 & 45 respectively) while Kyle Fitzgerald (41) also posted his highest total of the season so far, as Kyabram surged to 305 to close out the innings.

Tasked with chasing one of the highest totals posted this season, Magpies coach Andrew Squires knew he’d have to lead from the front if his side were to stand any chance in reaching the required total.

He compiled a handy 31 to see off the Redbacks opening bowlers, but after he was run out in the 17th over, Magpies wickets fell at regular intervals after that as they managed just 129 at the end of the day’s play.

Kyabram’s Darin Ohlsen had a day out with the ball, finishing with six maidens and a trio of wickets to his name, rounding out what McLay said was a complete Redbacks performance.

“We knew they (Euroa) were going to come hard early, so we were able to get a couple of maidens early and lift that run rate, and once the spinners came on they were able to put the game to bed pretty early; just a fantastic performance with bat and ball.”