THE first year of promotion and relegation couldn't have been scripted any better - seven of the eight spots on the ladder hinge on next week's final round.
A tense tie and dramatic postscript to its match with Nestles has reigning premier Allansford the only club assured of its finishing position next week - top spot.
An 11-wicket haul from coach Ben Boyd inspired Russells Creek to an outright win, which lifted his side from last to fourth on Saturday.
Creek's triumph over Wesley-CBC set up the enthralling final round next weekend, when five clubs have mathematical chances of grabbing fourth spot and a semi-final showdown. Four clubs: Creek, Merrivale, Brierly-Christ Church and Dennington (which occupy fourth to seventh on the ladder) are separated by just two points.
Boyd claimed career-best match figures of 11-62 off 24.2 overs as he and medium pacer Nathan Divall (8-35 off 20.1 overs) terrorised Wesley-CBC at Walter Oval.
The pair shared the away side's 10 second-innings wickets on Saturday, with Divall finishing with 5-24 off 12.1 overs and Boyd 5-48 off 14 as Wesley-CBC was dismissed for 83. While the 83 was double the home side's first innings effort of 41, it wasn't enough to make Creek bat a second time, winning by an innings and 29 runs.
Boyd was delighted with his side's effort.
"To go from last to being in the mix for the finals is pretty unbelievable," the right-arm paceman said.
"We said to the players all week that outright wins are rare and very hard to get and we are going to have to play a good game of cricket to get another 10 wickets. We held on to nearly all our catches ? that's what's cost us a few times."
But staying in the four will be tough. Next week his side faces Allansford.
It is a challenge his players are looking forward to.
"They gave us a touch up a month ago. We just have to improve our batting, our bowlers seem to be doing OK," Boyd said.
He praised Divall for making the batsmen play every ball .
The shock of the day was at Allansford Recreation Reserve, where the home side resumed at 2-56, needing 71 more to win against second-placed Nestles.
A career-best performance of 7-35 from young medium pacer Alex Pye tore the heart out of Allansford's line-up, with the home side slumping to 9-80.
Tailenders Connor Arnott (33 not out) and Josh Parsons combined for a 46-run partnership before Parsons was last man out with the scores tied.
Seven of the eight wickets to fall were taken by bowlers operating from the southern end of the ground with the wind.
Allansford playing coach Kyall Timms said hot weather had dried out the pitch too much on Friday and it was decided to water the strip. But the lack of sunshine on Saturday meant the moisture stayed in the track, giving bowlers an advantage.
Timms was not critical of the volunteer groundsmen, saying if water wasn't added, the pitch would have been just as difficult, possibly harder to bat on, because it was too dry. He would not blame the pitch for his side's demise.
But the pitch condition will only fuel criticism of the WDCA board, which last week decided to hold next month's grand final at the ground instead of Reid Oval, the city's premier sporting venue.
Nestles co-captain Brett Eldridge said when the sides left the field, one scorebook had Allansford finishing on 125 and the other 127.
But a check of the bowling figures in both books had Allansford at 126.
"We probably thought we had them at nine down but we didn't take our foot off, they didn't give us any chances, we kept bowling in the one spot," Eldridge said.
"When we were successful in finals, you have to play boring cricket, bowling in the one spot. We got a little aggressive at the end and tried to take a wicket off every ball ... we were lucky the scores were level.
"At least Allansford know we can beat them and be really competitive because they have had the wood over us."
Timms praised the performance of Arnott and Parsons.
"We were lucky to get away with a tie," he said.
"We were very gone for all money.
"Connor's 17 and Josh is 18 and they haven't had a lot of hits this year. There performance is a positive we will take out this game. We can rely on our lower order to get runs if we need to."
In a day for youngsters, Dennington teenager Matthew Gunther made an unbeaten 80 to guide the Dogs to a seven-wicket win against Merrivale, which posted 190 last week. The win kept Dennington's finals hopes alive but dented the Tigers' which now must defeat Nestles next week to grab a semi-final berth.
A half-century by opener Alastair Templeton helped West Warrnambool claim an important win against Brierly-Christ Church at Brierly. Chasing 154 for victory, West was cruising at 1-123 but lost 6-25 as Nathan Murphy took four crucial scalps.
Brierly, which slipped from fourth to sixth, must now defeat Wesley-CBC (eighth) next week to make the finals while West (third) can grab second if it defeats Dennington (seventh) and Merrivale (fifth) upsets Nestles.
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