MOE and Trafalgar suffered narrow losses in round five, both going down by a handful of runs.
The Ships sank by a heartbreaking three runs despite a heroic century from captain Rhys Holdsworth, who was unbeaten at the close of play.
Trafalgar v Yallourn North
TRAFALGAR won the toss and sent Yallourn North in which proved a poor choice as the Bombers posted 5/191.
Patrick Spiteri’s 89 was the driving force, supported by Andrew Petrou who made 40.
The Ships’ bowlers struggled to keep it tight, with Jackson Noonan (2/41) getting slim rewards.
Trafalgar started poorly in reply before Aiden George (31) and Holdsworth pushed the score to 86.
When George departed Hugh Cheatley kept the runs ticking over with 33.
After that, support for Holdsworth was slim and although he posted a superb 105 not out, there were not enough overs left to reach the target as the Ships fell three runs short with four wickets remaining.
Rowan Kelly (2/50) got the wickets on a tough day for bowlers at the Yallourn North Turf.
Mirboo North v Thorpdale
MIRBOO North ran up 7/180 against Thorpdale thanks to the efforts of Ben Heath (69) and Rob Phoenix (43).
Blues captain Boyd Bailey (3/40) was the strike bowler however Henk Conradie was the only man to keep it tight with 1/19 off his 10 overs.
The Blues were dragged toward the target by the Conradie brothers, with Henk (43) and Schalke (66*) the shining lights in a team total of 147.
The next best score was Bailey’s 10.
Dale Banks bowled well for the Tigers, picking up 2/32, but it was Rob Phoenix who stole the show with a second consecutive five wicket haul, for the cost of just 13 runs, to knock Thorpdale out of the match.
Morwell v Moe
MORWELL struggled to 7/133 against Moe, which proved just enough.
Craig Giddens (35) top scored while opener Riyaz Pathan (26), Rob Semmler (21) and Mark Cukier (20) all got starts.
Aaron Walshe (2/17) and Jayden Mathison (2/22) were the Lions’ best performers with the ball.
Moe started well in the chase with Sean Spiteri’s 61 giving them a fighting chance, however he lacked any significant support.
Mathison’s 15 was the only other double figure score of the innings.
When Spiteri was run out in the dying overs of the game chasing quick runs, Moe still had hopes of limping across the line but the Tigers’ bowlers did well to keep a lid on the chase.
Mark Cukier wheeled down 10 overs for just 20 runs while Roger Henry sent down six and finished with 2/15 to help their side run out victors by just five runs
Second grade
LATROBE defeated Trafalgar 5/155 to 120 all out with Daniel Siddle’s 63 the deciding factor.
Matthew Brewer scored an aggressive 29* to boost the Sharks’ total at the end of the innings.
Kingsley Rajasingam (3/44) and Rob McPherson (2/31) were the wicket takers for the Ships.
In reply McPherson’s 45 was the only thing propping up Trafalgar’s innings as they fell short of victory.
Mitch Cowell (3/18) and Glen Steele (3/31) ensured victory for the Sharks.
Kris Fortuin’s half century was all for naught as Morwell fell short of Moe’s 8/156.
Paul Kane’s 61 ensured the Lions would claim the points.
Glen Bone took 5/27 for the Tigers but they slipped up with the bat; Ben Noy’s 3/18 helped to hamper the chase, with no other Morwell batsmen getting stuck in.
Eight-man Thorpdale was blown away for 45 by Jeeralang-Boolarra with Glen Nijenhaus (2/14) and Simon Pickett (3/4) doing the damage.
Pat Spinazzola’s 19 was the only double figure score for the Blues in a disappointing performance.
The Panthers made hay as the sun shone with the bat as Ryan Wilk blazed 150 to help run up 8/311 in reply.
Rawson defeated St Vincent’s with Dylan Lee (3/43), Shane Nelson (2/15) and Ben Rotheram (2/12) all making inroads for the Kookaburras. Duane Oldham’s 46 was the best for the Saints, followed by Rohan Attard’s 26.
Chasing 143 to win Rawson posted 180.
Alex Sword’s 72 was a big part of the victory.
Justin Hecker took 6/36 for the Saints but it was too little too late for the Saints.
