In the Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield grand final, Waaia players went to bed on Saturday night with belief they could win the flag.
In less than three hours of Sunday action, defeat had sunk in.
The Bombers were rolled for 60, ending their incredible rise from a win-or-season-over situation, to finals, to a grand final.
Entering the 2026 calendar year, Waaia was a game-and-a-half outside the top six.
Two wins to finish the season against eventual finals-missing club Tatura and sixth-placed Nagambie saw Waaia stunningly squeeze into fifth, before defeating Central Park-St Brendan’s as underdog in a cut-throat semi-final.
Its victory over Karramomus punched its grand final ticket, but it was no match for a red-hot Redbacks unit on Sunday.
Skipper Mitch Cleeland reflected that Waaia’s “topsy turvy” season ended with a strong run home, but its luck ran out one hurdle short of silverware.
“We had a bit of a topsy turvy season, six or seven weeks ago we had a situation where we lose, our season is over, and fortunately we got on a bit of a roll and got to here,” Cleeland said post-match.
“That’s about where our luck ran out, but we still played some good patches of cricket over the weekend.
“It just fell apart a little bit for us today and, unfortunately, they just got the better of us.”
On a tricky soft wicket with a slow outfield, Kyabram was restricted to 187, providing the Bombers captain with confidence for the Sunday action.
“I thought we bowled as good as we possibly could have and our fielding, aside from one blunder, was pretty much in line with the bowling as well,” Cleeland said.
“For them to get 187, it was probably a bit more than we were hoping for when we had them about sort of 8-120 or 30, but at the end of the day I think we were still relatively confident.”
However, disaster struck with the bat and Cleeland had no words but to applaud Kyabram’s relentless bowling.
“They bowled really well, they always do,” Cleeland said.
“There’s constant pressure with the bat.
“There’s probably a few shots where some boys wished they had their time again, but hindsight is a lovely thing.
“But yeah, they outperformed us on the day, the win is well and truly on their behalf.”
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