by Samuel Laffy
In an early psychological boost before the two-day finals begin, Trafalgar emerged as one-day premiers in division four thanks to a 36-run victory over Garfield-Tynong.
The win came on the back of a decision that the Titans might possibly regret, having won the toss and electing to bowl in warm conditions.
Nonetheless, Garfield-Tynong certainly held their own with the ball, restricting the Ships to just 140 before they were dismissed in the 39th over.
Matt Trofa (3/18), Darren Van Den Berghe (2/29 off 6.3), and Will Pickering (2/27 from 8) were all in fine form with the ball and ensured that Trafalgar's batsmen were never fully settled at the crease.
Mitch Claridge (a 35-ball 26), Brendan Dawson (a boundary-laden 27), and Louis Hennessy (a hard-fought 25*) all chimed in with valuable contributions, but the Ships would no doubt have felt they were a few runs short of a winning total at the innings break.
However, a magnificent all-round effort from the Trafalgar attack meant that Garfield-Tynong never looked like chasing down their target, with a host of loose shots seeing wickets fall regularly.
Only Phill Young (a 23-ball 29) made it past 20, as Teilor Woolford (3/20), Owen McLeod-Agland (2/24), and Louis Hennessy (2/16) reaped the benefits of a consistent line-and-length attack.
Hennessy was later named man of the match for his efforts with both the bat and ball.