It was a dramatic afternoon of ACT Premier Cricket on Saturday, as Western District clinched the Douglas Cup minor premiership for a second year running.
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Wests, Weston Creek Molonglo, and Tuggeranong were all battling it out for top spot at the beginning of the day.
But a masterclass from player-coach Blake Dean put Wests in a strong position to take the outright win over Tuggeranong Valley at Chisholm Oval.
The ACT Cricket veteran took figures of 4-7 off just 2.4 overs with the ball.
Although Wests certainly did not win the easy way, losing six-wickets for just 21 runs in their second innings hunt, after earlier being at 0-88 chasing 123.
However, Scott Murn eventually got Wests over the line, with his unbeaten eight guiding his side to a four-wicket win, securing the minor premiership and a home semi-final re-match with Tuggeranong next weekend.
"I was a little bit nervous at the end there, Shane and Craig [Devoy] are both quality bowlers. Shane Devoy in particular has been a standout for a number of years," Wests all-rounder Murn said.
"I had confidence though if we really applied ourselves, we were going to get there. I was very well supported by Kurt Johnstone at the other end whose recently made his first-grade debut and is doing great things for us.
"So, I had full confidence that if I could stick out there with him, we could get the job done."
Murn said Wests were ready for their rematch with Tuggeranong next weekend, which could be his coach's [Dean's] last game of Premier Cricket, after Dean announced he will retire at the conclusion of the season on Saturday.
"I think it will be a good challenge, this round has shown that the two teams are fairly evenly matched. I think we will take a lot of confidence knowing that every time we have played them this season, that we have kept them to a pretty good score from a bowling standpoint," Murn said.
Meanwhile, Weston Creek Molonglo secured a mammoth 184-run victory over Queanbeyan at Stirling Oval, ensuring a home semi-final for John Rogers and his troops.
Creek declared before a ball was bowled Saturday morning and required only 52.2 to get the job done.
Blake Faunce spun Creek to victory with figures of 4-24, capping off a stellar all-round performance after scoring an unbeaten 48 last Saturday.
Eastlake secured all 10 points against ANU, seeing the Demons finish the regular rounds in third position.
Opening quicks Hayden Page and Nicholas wood took seven wickets between them to roll ANU for just 42 in the students first innings.
The Demons then knocked over ANU again for 125, securing an innings-and-163-run victory.
Ginninderra finished their season on a high, taking a nine-wicket outright win over North Canberra-Gungahlin, with Jak Willcox taking eight wickets for the match.
The 10 points however was not enough for the Tigers to secure a finals berth, as they could only manage to climb into fifth position on the table after Eastlake's huge result.
And in the Lynne O'Meara Cup, Weston Creek Molonglo and Ginninderra will meet in next Saturday's final, after winning their respective semi-finals on Saturday. It will be a Glenda Hall Shield final rematch in the women's competition.
