It was just about a walk in the park for Penrith after they comfortably demolished Gordon by 84 runs to claim their first Poidevin-Gray Shield title since 2009/10 last weekend.
Talented all-rounder Jake Wholohan received the Shane Lee Medal for his Man of the Match performance, which saw him notch 65 not out and record 1/28 with the ball.
Speaking with the Weekender, Penrith coach and current first grader Michael Castle said he was very confident of victory after his side posted 229 with the bat on Sunday morning.
“With our spin dominated attack, we were pretty confident it would be hard for them to chase anything above 180-200,” he said.
“Once we dismissed their outstanding batsman in Axel Cahlin for 13, we were confident we could slow down their scoring. They never really looked in the hunt despite showing some courage with the bat.”
After winning their first U21’s premiership in eight years, players partied well into night and into Monday morning.
“I stayed in the change rooms and left at about midnight and there were some boys still drinking until the early hours of the morning,” Castle said.
“It was a pretty good evening because the Panthers also won next door.”
Nathan Taylor
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender's Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.