Sport
20 March, 2026
Division 3 premiers
ONE run was all that separated the combatants in last Saturday’s South West Cricket Association division three grand final, with Pomborneit Gold scoring a dramatic last ball victory over Heytesbury-Princetown.
Gold skipper Aaron Van Es won the toss and elected to bat first at the Camperdown number two oval against a Storm team that hadn’t lost a game in three seasons.
The Bulls were on the back foot straight away, with competition leading run scorer Matt Richardson caught in slip from the bowling of Daniel Balcombe from the second ball of the day for no score.
Fellow opener Garry Riches was out in the second over, bowled by Andrew Malone also without a run to his name.
When Steve Murphy was caught off the bowling of Balcombe in the fifth over, Gold was in big trouble at 3/22.
Veteran Tony Evans had moved along to 15 from 23 balls before being caught behind in Nathan Balcombe’s first over to have Gold at 4/28.
Tim Whitehead spooned a catch to mid-off from the bowling of Balcombe in the 15th over, out for 13, with Gold reaching drinks at 5/72.
Jack Smith was next to go, bowled by Cody Noonan for nine.
While wickets kept falling at one end, Stephen Walters managed to keep the score ticking over at the other end until he was the seventh wicket to fall, out for an innings high 49 from 68 balls, with three fours and a six, before getting out LBW to slow bowler Norm Vogels in the 31st over with the score on 116.
In Vogels’ next over he had Miller Murphy caught for eight.
Skipper Aaron Van Es was joined at the crease by Isaac Cootesmith, the pair batting aggressively, adding 40 in six overs before Van Es was LBW to Storm veteran left-armer Leigh Doak for 22 from 23 balls.
Gold was 9/166 with an over to go.
Junior player Sam Tolland faced the last over, not scoring from the first three balls before hitting 11 off the last three balls from Nathan Balcombe to see the Bulls finish on 9/177.
Cootesmith remained unbeaten on 22 from 20 balls, with Tolland on 12 not out from 10.
Daniel Balcombe was the best of the Heytesbury-Princetown bowlers with 3/21 from eight overs, with Norm Vogels taking 2/16 from three.
After the tactic being successful in the semi-final, Gold went pace off with the new ball, with Stephen Walters and off-spinner Matt Richardson bowling the early overs.
Both bowlers proved hard to score off, with Richardson taking the first wicket to fall in the 10th over, Cody Noonan caught by Cootesmith for five.
The Storm were 1/42 from 15 overs when Walters finished his eight over stint, with figures of 0/22.
At drinks, Heytesbury-Princetown were 1/58, requiring 120 runs with nine wickets in hand.
Van Es got the big wicket of opener Terry Webb soon after, caught by Richardson for 36 from 63 balls.
The Gold captain struck again in the 25th over when Norm Vogels was caught by Tim Whitehead for 19 from 54 balls.
The pairing of Brad Armistead and Bailey Delaney put on 25 in the next three overs before off-spinner Sam Tolland had Armistead caught on the boundary by Steve Murphy for 15 from 12 balls.
The fifth wicket partnership between Justin Hosking and Bailey Delaney realised 53 runs from eight overs before Miller Murphy struck, having Hosking caught behind by Jack Smith for 39 from 42 balls.
With four overs remaining, the Storm needed 25 to win with five wickets in hand.
Delaney skied a ball from Steven Murphy, caught by Aaron Van Es at long off for 23 off 27 balls.
The next over Miller Murphy dismissed Andrew Malone the exact same way, again caught by Van Es at long off.
Momentum continued Gold’s way in the penultimate over, with two run outs in two balls (Van Es conceding just four runs for the over).
Heytesbury-Princetown, now nine wickets down, needed 10 to win off the final over, with nine runs and a tied result also enough to give them the title.
Junior player Miller Murphy was entrusted with the ball for his eighth over.
A single and a dot ball started the over, before Nathan Balcombe hit a cut shot behind point for four to edge the Storm closer.
Balcombe played and missed at the fourth ball, then scored a two off the fifth.
With one required to tie off the last ball, a full pitched ball from Murphy was hit to Tim Whitehead at cover, the batsmen ran through for a single as Whitehead ran the ball into the stumps at the non-striker’s end to give Pomborneit Gold victory by the barest of margins.
The premiership win is Pomborneit’s second at division three level, the first coming in the 2019/20 season.
Umpires Colin Hayman and Brian Rowbottom awarded Stephen Walters the player of the match medal before the Gold team was presented with the flag and the cup.
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