An overcast day at Deakin welcomed the two Stage 3 Div 3 Marist Teams for an anticipated derby. Midnight was looking to cause an upset late in the season with good plans set for their Cobalt mates. Cobalt won the toss and decided to have a bat in damp conditions. Hamish Henry opened the bowling for Midnight and had the ball hooping into the right handers with big swing making it difficult to strike the ball confidently. An early breakthrough gave the Midnight boys some confidence that the damp pitch may serve them well. At 4/77, the game was in the balance, before Cobalt's Henry Platt and Alex Moore started to dominate in the middle and consistently strike boundaries. Midnight kept chipping away with wickets though and good bowling. Nick Ryan's bowling has vastly improved through the season and he bowled 3 tight overs for only 9 runs, which batsman find very awkward to get away. Super sub Saxon Owens-McVie bowled tight and quick, and Hugh Williams chipped in with 2 wickets, including a rare LBW from the coach. Pleasingly, 7 bowlers chipped in with wickets, and MIdnight took 5 catches to set a new standard for the season. Cobalt set a very respectable 189 for Midnight to chase down.

With the Club El Presidente watching on, Midnight headed out to chase down Cobalt and make a game of it. Saxon blasted a quick 25 of only 23 with some excellent striking, and only fell to a very good catch on the boundary. A couple of ducks had Midnight on the backfoot before skipper Nate settled things down to hold up one end. Regular wickets kept Midnight off balance though, until a nice late innings from Hamish Henry with 33 of 39 boosted the score into the respectable range. Ultimately Midnight couldn't quite match the required run rate through the innings, though did narrow the previous win margin from 96 to 46, highighting improvement in all 3 aspects of the game through the season. A well catered picnic lunch followed at the grounds with both teams and families enjoying lunch together to mark the season.