DROUIN Gold’s Ryan Radford completed the performance of the round in a stunning day against Yarragon in C grade.
Radford destroyed the Yarragon batting with 7/16 and then blasted 129 as a big-hitting opener to have the Golds in a powerful position at stumps.
A GRADE (1)
Western Park put together a solid batting performance to post 209 against Yarragon.
Paul McCluskey found much needed form for the Parkers and finished the day unbeaten on 49. Daryl Fawcett and Jason Croft each scored 31, restoring Western Park’s middle-order form.
The Yarragon bowlers did a good job, the best being Brad Wright with 2/37 and John Allsop finished with 2/29.
Warragul won the toss in the match against Ellinbank and batted, but they were soon regretting the decision at 2/4. Then Craig Black (23) and Alan Jansen (56) played beautifully and added 65 for the third wicket. Sean Carey (30) and Matt Corstorphin (25) added another 41 together and Warragul totalled 189.
Ricky Gray moved to the top of the wicket-taking tally after snaring 4/34 off 15 overs, Toby Wallace also continues to impress in the top division, he claimed 3/38 from 17.3 overs.
A good performance by Ellinbank to restrict Warragul to less then 200, they should be in with a real chance going into next week.
A brilliant century from Drouin’s Dale Weller gave the side a good chance of victory over the struggling Buln Buln.
Weller (108) was the only player to stand up in the Drouin top order and with Clinton Proctor (18) added 88 for the second wicket. Weller’s brother Blair made the only other notable score, 23 not out, Drouin managing a total of 9/238.
Adam Steenholdt finished with 5/50 off 11 overs.
A century from James McMahon steered Hallora to 3/302 against Trafalgar.
Grant Williams (75) and James McMahon (124 not out) took risks and notched a partnership of 132 for the third wicket. James’ brother Tim remained unbeaten on 36, adding 103 with him for the fourth wicket.
A GRADE (2)
Longwarry was in a strong position against Drouin thanks to a sparkling 132 from Dale Serong.
Serong added 145 for the fifth wicket with Mark Berens (44) and Longwarry finished 9/249.
Brett Masterson proved the best of the Drouin bowlers, snaring 4/60.
Neerim removed Jindivick for just 48. Mick Talbot was deadly and accurate, capturing 5/18, and Marc Tymkin claimed 3/6.
Neerim was well in control at stumps at 4/123.
Mark Dibsdale batted well for 53 and David Ladd (38) was dismissed just before stumps.
Neerim looked in a strong position to go for outright victory and a place in the top four.
Bunyip fell apart for 124 after a strong start against Western Park. Shaun Witchell (32) did a good job at the start but only Ben Ross’s 25 got the total past 100.
Chris Kelly bagged 5/51 off 21 overs and caused plenty of problems.
Western Park was 2/22 at the close.
Garfield continued its impressive form, bowling out Iona for 155.
Opener Will Grbic played a solid innings and recorded a 50 but too little resistance came from the Iona batsmen.
Bernie Marson took 4/73 off 23 overs and Joel Ferguson 3/34.
B GRADE (1)
A good display by Drouin’s top order took the side to 182 in the match against Buln Buln.
Sean Proctor (35) and Steve Nottage (46) added 67 for the first wicket, but a major collapse followed and only 45 extras got Drouin over 150.
Brian Sells claimed 3/42 and Neil Olsson 3/33.
Trafalgar took the honours on day one against Hallora, which was dismissed for 136.
Marcus Wynne made a welcome return to the seconds, claiming 3/16.
An excellent unbeaten 78 from Longwarry’s Jason Leishout put the side in a good position against Yarragon.
Longwarry made a shaky start but Leishout held the batting together and ensured a competitive total of 8/191. Paul Harvey did a top job for Yarragon, snaring 4/58, and C. Blackberry picked up 3/57.
Warragul scored 9/195 against Ellinbank, Steve Ward scoring an excellent 49 and opener Brendan Goss 31. Steve Ballingall took three late wickets.
B GRADE (2)
Against Western Park, Bunyip batted first and made 161, led by Dale Pronk, who batted beautifully at the top of the order for 70.
A. McGrath captured the first five wickets to finish with 5/68 off 25 overs and Sam Laffy did well for 3/30 off 19 overs. Western Park was 0/19 at stumps.
A brilliant opening partnership between Peter Heywood (50) and Mick Okwell (102) put Garfield in an extremely strong position against Iona. They added 153 as a launching pad for a strong total of 9/279.
Gary Donoghue toiled hard, finishing with 5/113 off 25 overs on a testing day for Iona.
An opening stand of 109 between Longwarry’s Sam Butler (48) and Mark Willis (59) helped Longwarry to a strong position against Warragul. But the Longwarry middle order then fell away to total 172.
Ken Lindsay bowled well, snaring 4/61 off 19 overs. A. Hill took 3/31.
Warragul was 3/54 at stumps.
Jindivick had a match to forget, being bowled out for 82 by Neerim District.
Dave Ward was at his best, bagging 5/12 off 13 overs in a superb spell of swing bowling.
Neerim at stumps was well on top at 4/125, Bruce Freeman making 51.
C GRADE
Yarragon batted first and was dismissed for 79, Dick Dekaste (34) being the only player to reach double figures. Ryan Radford left the batsmen with no answers, claiming 7/16.
Drouin Gold batted for just 24 overs and amassed 5/223, Radford again at the centre of the action blasting boundaries and sixes all round the ground and scoring a breathtaking 129.
Malcolm Dow supported Radford well, scoring 35 in an opening stand of 118.
Iona was looking to claim top spot against Drouin Maroon after bowling out the Maroons for 92 in 58.4 overs. Nathan Vistarini snared 3/22. Iona at stumps was 2/31.
Ellinbank did well to post 146 against Hallora. Hallora lost both openers not long before stumps to finish 2/39.
