AT 3.40pm on Saturday, hearts were broken in both dressing rooms at Shorten Reserve.
The captains of Sunshine Druids and Sunshine United met with the umpires to declare their Victorian Turf Cricket Association north division clash a draw, due to inclement weather.
It was the worst imaginable result for both clubs and one that led to wildly different outcomes.
With a win, the Druids could have snuck into the finals. The consequences were even more severe for United, relegated from the competition’s second tier with the wooden spoon in tow.
There will be no Druids-United derby either in the foreseeable future.
But the Druids should feel most pained by the result. They were odds-on favourites to win, having bowled United out for 109 and picked off 0-19 in response, and did not get a chance to complete the mission.
They will also never know how the three sides above them – Strathmore, Youlden Parkville and Westmeadows – would have fared on the second day of their matches and if a finals spot would have opened up.
That cricket gods were not smiling on Market Street on Saturday and Druids player-coach Jared Andrews and the 21 players from both sides were left with a hollow feeling.
“We feel a bit hard done by,” Andrews said.
“It [the result] was no good from our point of view, it was no good from their point of view.
“It hasn’t panned out for the best and it’s disappointing. We’re going to use it as motivation for next season.”
The Druids showed tremendous resolve to merely finish sixth this summer.
They had to overcome a raft of personnel changes and trained without nets for a large chunk of the season.
The Druids are not using that as an excuse, rather pointing to disappointing losses against Tullamarine, Keilor and Keilor Park as the main factors for their finals-less season.
“We had a lot of good wins, but it comes back to consistency,” Andrews said.
“We have to get more consistency from individuals across the season.”
Keilor, meanwhile, qualified for the north division finals in top spot, finishing 13 points clear of Doutta Stars.
The Blues get the right to host Westmeadows in a cut-throat two-day semi-final at Keilor Recreation Reserve.
In the north A1, St Albans finished in the top two and will also host a two-day semi-final against East Keilor at Kings Park Reserve.
