Guys, we're proud of you!

GUYS - WE'RE PROUD OF
YOU

Moonee Valley fell short in the Twenty20 Grand Final on February 6, but there was a lot to like about our tournament and the big match.
In a window to an exciting future as a Club, six of our players in the Grand Final were teenagers, and we were captained by Daniel Comande at the ripe old age of 22. 
The seven bright young stars played the majority of our four games in the knock-out tournament, run by the North West Metropolitan Cricket Association. 
At left: Our T20 Grand Final team. L-R:  Back - Michael Ozbun, Nate Wolland, Ben Thomas, Luke Brock, Chanaka Silva, Stephen Esmore, Anthony Cafari and Charles Bibby. Front - Nigel Cowan, Lou Raffaele, Daniel Comande and Jack Newman.
We came up against a seasoned team in the Grand Final in Westmeadows, which plays VTCA in a division two grades higher than Moonee Valley, and was stacked with international and contract players. Moonee Valley 70 lost to Westmeadows 7/163. 
Westmeadows won the toss and batted first at their home ground, with the game played on turf as both our clubs are turf at the top grades.
We both endorsed the switch to turf, even though the NWMCA is a hard-wicket competition. 
Westmeadows got off to a flier, at 0/100 after the first 10 overs, so it was a top effort to peg them back and take regular wickets when we had been staring at a 200-plus chase. 
We never got any momentum going in the run chase, without support for opener Lou Raffaele’s hard-hitting 34. 
Moonee Valley has supported the NWMCA Twenty20 competition every season since its inception more than a decade ago. 
In that time we have won two Premierships – 2008/09 and 2009/10 – and made the Grand Final in three other seasons. 
At right: Lou Raffaele dispatches a ball to the boundary, watched by batting partner Chanaka Silva.

Our teens were Charles Bibby, Luke Brock, Anthony Cafari and Nigel Cowan, all 19; Jack Newman, who turned 19 the day before the Grand Final; and Stephen Esmore at 18. 
Guys, we’re proud of you.