MOE has Latrobe on the ropes in their EnergyAustralia Yallourn Cup grand final replay at Peter Siddle oval after yesterday’s play.
Batting first, Moe was looking good at 4/100 but the tail offered little resistance and the Lions were all out for 137.
Paul Cake was the main man for Moe with a solid 67 before he became one of Anthony Bloomfield’s six victims.
Dale Walshe was the next highest scorer for the Lions with 24 in an opening partnership of 38 with Cake.
With a reachable tally on the board Matt Clarke struck the first blow for Moe when he claimed his 1000th club wicket by having Rob McKinley caught by Jayden Mathison for a duck.
Clarke went on to take the wicket of Matt Brewer, also for a duck, as the Sharks slumped to 7/42.
Clarke’s scalps leave him four short of 900 first grade wickets.
Latrobe limped to stumps at 8/47 leaving a lot of work for Adam Duncan and Brendan Evans this weekend.
An outright looks possible in this match and Moe is firmly in the box seat.
Trafalgar had Newborough Bulldogs in early trouble at 2/22 but they recovered to a healthy 253 with Chris Robinson making 61, Steve Hibbs 59 and Rohan Kelly 39.
Daniel Heathcote bowled well for 5/60 from 22 overs and Klay Butler and Liam Durkin chipped in with two wickets each.
In their two overs at the crease the Ships knocked 13 off the total without loss with James Blaser 10 not out.
Mirboo North made Morwell bowlers toil hard all day as they belted 365 runs from 87 overs.
Brett Pedlow (74), Jimmy Watson (71) and Ben Heath (70) scored the bulk of the runs with a fourth wicket partnership of 156 runs between Heath and Pedlow.
Heath also combined with Jarrod Speed (35) in a 66 run partnership.
Three run outs were just reward for Morwell’s determination as their bowlers struggled to break through on a great batting strip.
