BDCA 2023: Marshall magic for Marist, who reach fifth grade grand final

A superb double effort from Marist’s Daniel Marshall inspired his side to a 16-run win over Hay Park in Saturday’s fifth grade preliminary final at Forrest Park East.

After producing a handy 43 off 59 balls alongside the versatile Max Bilcich, Marshall returned with the ball to snare 4-31 off eight overs.

Chasing 161 for victory, Hay Park were dismissed for 144 in the 37th over.

Marshall’s son Finn also played a part in the action, taking a catch off his dad’s bowling to remove Redbacks opener Brenton Bartlett — and later, trapped Richard Ewing in front, to kickstart the Blues’ plans for a grand final appearance against the Rising Stars, which is a rematch of the second semifinal.

In second grade action, Harvey-Benger’s impressive season is over, after being eliminated from the finals in straight sets.

Despite finishing the home-and-away season 10 points clear of second-placed Colts, Harvey-Benger failed to fire in the postseason, dropping games to Colts (second semifinal) and Marist (by 21 runs in preliminary final on Saturday) respectively.