A STUNNING captain’s knock from Charles Murrie has helped College claim its first Hamilton and District Cricket Association (HDCA) A grade premiership in 19 years.

The College skipper opened the innings and blasted his way to a stunning century, leading his team to what was a comfortable seven-wicket victory against Macarthur at Dahl Turf.

The game was moved from Melville Oval on Friday, due to a wet pitch, with College winning the toss and electing to bowl first on Saturday.

Matt Timms and Ollie Wortley opened the proceedings for the Demons and started slowly, scoring four runs in as many overs, before the pair started to find their rhythm and the scoring rate steadily improved.

The opening duo got the score to 43 before Kane Uebergang bowled Timms out for 23.

Mick Brilley’s time in the middle saw the number three add six runs, while Kyall Timms was next to fall for 15.

Wortley continued to tick over the scoreboard, as his partners came and went with the opener teaming up with Kyle Smitten to put on 49 runs for the fifth wicket before Smitten chased boundaries and was caught by a Kane Uebergang stunner on the boundary to return to the pavilion with 34 runs to his name.

Wortley was eventually undone for 54, as Brad Sheen struck an important 20 runs late in the innings to push Macarthur’s total up to 9-178 from its 45 overs.

At the innings break, it looked like it was going to be a competitive contest, but Murrie had other ideas, taking the Macarthur bowlers on from the outset.

His opening partner, Heath Schmidt, fell for one with the score on 11, with Jack Austin adding three runs before he was knocked over by Sheen, but Murrie’s mindset saw the team’s total get to 57 when the second wicket fell.

Murrie was joined by Hamish Bailey and the pair upped the ante, as Murrie found the boundary at will and single-handedly took the game away from the Demons.

When Murrie was eventually dismissed for 118 off 94 balls, the Eagles needed just 29 more runs to win, with Bailey and Russell Bennett getting the required runs inside 36 overs to claim victory.

Murrie told The Spectator after the game that the achievement hadn’t sunk in.

“It feels bloody good, it still doesn’t really feel real just yet,” he said.

“It has been a lot of work from everyone to get to this point, so I am just really proud of what we have been able to achieve.”

Despite the ease of which the Eagles won, he said Macarthur proved to be a tough opponent and was nervous about the result in the lead-up.

“I thought they really did a great job, we bowled really well I thought and Ollie (Wortley)_just batted and grounded it out all day long,” he said.

“He was very impressive with his patience and we were lucky we had a bit of brilliance in the field

“We had a couple of really great games against them during the season, they impressed me and I was super nervous going into the game.

“We were lucky we could put it all together and just a bit of brilliance now and then in the field and it all worked out well.”

The College captain said the balance of the team made it easier for him to play his natural game, with his knock proving to be the difference between the two teams.

“We have such a strong team and that is what made it a lot easier for me to go out there and play my natural way,” he said.

“When you get on a bit of a roll, sometimes you can go on with it and I was lucky enough to be able to do that.

“We were a bit here and there early on, it was one of those wickets where you had to find yourself on a little bit and when we did lose a couple of wickets, I was just able to keep going and it all fell into place.

To be able to give club veteran, Hamish Bailey, A grade premiership success was also a big motivating factor for the team.

“It is what a lot of us are here for, we all love Hammer and the body of work he has put together, it makes you incredibly proud to play alongside him and it is great to get him a medal finally,” he said.

For Macarthur captain, Jeremy Sheehan, it was a case of one man standing between the Demons and the Dundas Cup for much of the afternoon.

“Muz batted well, take that out of the innings and it could have been a different game, but credit to him,” he said.

“Anything can happen in finals, but for a bloke to make 118, we were never in the hunt really.

“There were a couple of times early on, a bit of a mishit could have been a wicket, they had a little bit of luck and rolled with it and we had some luck when we batted too.

“We were just beaten by a better team.”

Sheehan was rapt to see his young opener perform on the big stage, despite the result not going the Demons’ way.

“Ollie and Red (Matt Timms) went well to start and they (College) bowled really well, there wasn’t many wides at all and a couple of bits of really good fielding,” he said.

“Ollie was struggling a few weeks ago and to get a 50 in the final is good for him and his future.”