By Tyler Lewis
Casey South Melbourne took no lessons on its ability from last weekend’s tight loss to St Kilda, instead focused on its execution.
The Swans stared down the barrel of another nail-biting finish at 7/80 in pursuit of Essendon’s 129.
Instead of harping on its previous tight loss to St Kilda, Will Carr’s men stuck to their processes and carried out the terrific victory with two wickets left in the Windy Hill pavilion.
Luke Shelton – who bowled the final over in last weekend’s difficult defeat – was the lynchpin in the Swans triumph, striking an unbeaten 32.
Carr was adamant his side didn’t dwell on the previous fixture, knowing it now has the ability and fire-power to defeat any side in the competition.
“I don’t know if we necessarily learned anything, we just maintained our belief that if we stick to our process that the outcome will look after itself,” he said.
“We can’t control the result, but we can control the way we go about things… so we have our game plans that we try to stick to and feel if we do that well enough the result will go our way.
“Last Sunday’s loss was disappointing, but it was two overs that probably cost us the game, so we can’t dwell on that too much.
“It was another opportunity on Saturday against a really strong Essendon outfit, we know we have contributors across the board, we aren’t reliant on one or two.
“There was no point beating ourselves up about it (last Sunday’s result), we didn’t spend much time on it, just remained positive and said we have another opportunity to do well.”
The win was realistically set up by Nathan Lambden (7.3-3-1-20) and his partner in crime Jackson Fry (10-2-4-24).
Fry’s four scalps were four of the Bombers top six, including former Victorian and competition herculean James Seymour.
The pair epitomise how the Swans have developed over the last 18 months and Carr couldn’t be prouder.
“They’ve been terrific, not just this year, they bowled really well for the majority of last season as well,” he said.
“They’ve become a bit of a formidable opening pair, those two, they work really well together and bowl well in partnerships – they’re disciplined and have clear plans.
“More often than not they’re getting two or three in the first 10 overs, which really opens things up for our spinners.”
While it was an obvious mantra last season, the Swans are yet to fire on all cylinders with the bat this summer.
In fact, the Swans are yet to run with the same batting line-up for each of their three outings this season.
Although some may see it as a reason for concern, Carr believes it comes down to balance and how the flexibility is truly a positive.
“It’s an interesting one because we bat quite deep which is great, but it creates its own problems too – because you could have a bloke batting at nine that could easily bat at five or six,” he said.
“We have two guys that are in the Victorian make up (Ashley Chandrasinghe and Ruwantha Kellapotha) and we’re trying to give them best opportunity.
“Chandrasinghe looks after himself at the top, but we want to try and give Kellapotha an opportunity with the bat as well.
“The good thing about our batting line up at the moment is that it’s flexible, the guys know that and know they could be at five one week, three the next, seven, six.
“The most important thing for me is that they’re open minded about it and are adaptable, everyone is happy to do their role… the water will find its level so to speak as far as what our best make up is, but we know we have guys that have and can bat in different positions.
“It will depend on how we’re travelling, the opposition, the conditions – we are happy with that flexibility in our batting.”
Casey South Melbourne returns home this weekend with a big clash against an in-form Ringwood side.
