GRUBBERS IN BOX SEAT OVER BULLS
OCEAN Grove has taken a commanding position in its final round clash against the Bulls, posting 254 at Barrabool Oval.
Despite a five-wicket haul from paceman Finn Peel, the Grubbers took the honours on day one after Huon Bertino (73 runs) and captain-coach Paul Jubber (39) laid the foundations for the innings with an 84-run partnership.
Captain-coach Jubber lauded Bertino’s innings-building efforts, while also praising the side’s depth after contributions across the board.
“We were really pleased to get off to a great start,” Jubber said.
“Huon Bertino’s in great form, and he’s had an outstanding season.
“We’ve got some really fantastic strikers down the order and for us in that situation with a strong foundation we always look to move the run rate along and I think we did that really well.”
Battling blustery conditions and a slow infield, opener Dylan Thorley (5) fell early be- fore Bertino and Jubber played a steady hand to leave Ocean Grove with a luxurious nine wickets up its sleeve at 1-100 going in to tea.
Looking to put the foot down after the break however, Jubber found himself caught off the bowling of leg-spinner Tom Scott, while Bertino continued his good from this season, ticking the runs over with seven fours and a six after bringing up his fourth half-century for the season.
But Barrabool’s Aaron Pickering ensured the wicketkeeper-batsman wasn’t able to replicate last weekend’s 106run effort, bowling Bertino to put the Grubbers 3-145.
Middle order batsmen Isaac Saunders (22 runs), Sam Jubber (24) and Michael Kenneady (30) all troubled the Bulls attack with some aggressive stroke play, but it was paceman Peel who eventually broke through to claim all three before finishing with career-best figures of 5-105.
Number seven Michael Thornton kept the run rate trending upwards with a quickfire 14. Tailender Dan Roddis played a crucial role in the final overs, blasting 24 runs, as the Grubbers finished 9-254.