A BRILLIANT century by Berwick turf 1 skipper Paul Evans against St Mary's has capped off a memorable season for the Bears, who proved to be the best side for the season, finishing on top of the ladder and minor premier.
Evans was in a limited-over mode, smashing 135 off just 127 balls and including 20 boundaries and three sixes on a placid home wicket in the Bears' match-winning total off 7-359 against the ninth-placed Saints.
Brad Francis continued his golden summer with 76 and took his season's tally to 493 runs at an average of 54.8.
The Saints started their run chase promisingly, led by opener Brendan Rydquist with 100 before he was out with 132 on the board.
Bears' veteran leg spinner Ash Henry started weaving his magic and dismantled the Saints' top order to get the Bears back into the match. But Saints premier batsman Troy Cashman dug in and mounted a middle-order rear-guard action with 61 off 59 deliveries.
Henry took 6-82 off a marathon 30.1 overs and was well supported by Simon Cornell, 2-24, and James Davies and Cam McDonell taking a wicket each to dismiss the opposition for 241.
Berwick finished on top of the ladder, five points clear of Hallam and have one loss for the season, against Buckley Ridges, which it meets in Saturday's semi-final at Arch Brown Reserve.
Turf 2 failed in its fight to avoid relegation in the season finale against Fountain Gate. Defending 157, the Bears were in with a real chance after having the Gators 4-57, but let them back into the game after dropping two vital catches.
Carl Sutton was the best of the bowlers with three wickets and Trevor McGeachin took his first wicket in turf when the game was in the balance. Fountain Gate's middle order batsman Steven Svaganvic put an end to Berwick's relegation fight with a quick-fire 133 that doomed the Bears to turf 3 next year.
An all-round performance with bat and ball got the A grade the points against Fountain Gate but wasn't enough to get them into the finals.
Defending 268, the Gators were 7-217 and looked on track for a win. Damien Quinlan bowled the Bears back into contention with 4-70, together with Rod Mead who took 3-36.
Marty Allan took two vital wickets to put the result beyond doubt. A poor start to the season cost the Bears dearly and denied them a place in the finals.
B grade was never in the hunt chasing Cranbourne's 323. It was a case of the club's future being on show in Andrew Taylor with an impressive 78 in the Bears' score of 184. Fraser Hopgood, 25 and Mick Murray, 18 were the other major contributors.
E grade was outclassed by Narre Warren in defending 182. Narre lost four wickets in scoring 248 with Jaye Driscoll the best of the bowlers with 5-28 off seven overs.
Junior results: under 17(1): Narre North 5-194 d Berwick 9-144; under 17(3): Berwick 9-159; N Murray 61 not out, AS Piasentin 37 d Noble Park 146 J Campbell 3-35 M Caruso 2-22 N Workman 2-23; under 15(1): Cranbourne 6-193 d Berwick 88; under 15(2): Berwick 6-271 H Kumar 51 not out; Y Umesh 51 not out, C French 38, M Kulasekera 27, d Hampton Park 8-203: T Verhellen 3-36 L Miller 2-15; under 15(3): Cranbourne Gold 7-260 J Llerena 3-41 d Berwick 104 A Murray 29 L Nicholson 28 and 3-69: under 13(1): Berwick 5-254 J Jessiman 41 not out N Cigetic 35 not out A Marchetti 25 not out L Grozdanovski 25 not out A Christy 25 not out d Hallam Kalora Park 110 J Jessiman 6-6 A Molnar 2-20; under 13(2): Berwick Blue 8-265 A Titford 61 not out C Bradley 43 K Fox 30 J Sauze 28 not out, B Leckning 26 def Doveton 9-187(cc) BS Oliver 2-19.
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