Robertson leads Eagles home in stunning display
Ellinbank completed a rare victory on the weekend, defeating Hallora relatively comfortably at home.
Bowling first, the Eagles weakness turned into their strength, as two former A-grade players Chris Pallot (4-22) and Tom Robertson (428) did a demolition job of Hallora's middleorder, only Brad Ward (52) made a vital contribution as a young Hallora side mustered 144.
In response, two early wickets had Ellinbank in trouble, but it was Robertson (64*) and Pallot (48*) again who did the business, the pair each laying claim to man-of-the-match honours as they added 101 unbeaten to see Ellinbank home.
Iona has continued their strong form against Western Park, trouncing the Warriors in an absolute demolition job.
Bowling first, the Swamp Tigers couldn’t make great in-roads with the new ball, as Western Park reached 2-50 early. However, as has happened on many occasions this season, Western Park collapsed in a heap- Mick Taylor (3-7), Wade Haysom (3-23) and Jayson Barwick (3-6) laying waste to the Warriors lineup as the away side were all out for 72. In reply, Iona were in trouble at 2-0- however, they were never truly troubled as Luke Ferguson (28*) and Mick Taylor (27) saw Iona home.
Drouin remained in top spot on the ladder with a thumping victory over bottom-side Garfield-Tynong.
Bowling first, Drouin were always in a complete control, as they strangled the away side into submission. Only Phill Young (34) and Jack Tenace-Greenall (28) could resist the likes of John Perry (2-3), Alex Gaudion (2-10) and Adin Short (2-16), as Garfield-Tynong stuttered to just 127 all out.
The reigning premiers were tipped to win this in a cake-walk and so they did as Gaudion (65*) did the majority of the work with the bat to see the Hawks only lose two wickets in their pursuit, winning with 12 overs to spare.
Catani maintained a spot in the top two, scraping over the line against Jindivick in a low-scoring affair. Bowling first, the Blues had Jindivick rattled from the get-go, as boundariesand even runs were sparse in nature. Liam Adams (2-16) was the pick of the bowlers with a tidy spell in a similar vein to Riley McDonald (2-17), as the Jumping Jacks crawled to just 8-102 off their allotted overs.
With a meagre score to chase, Catani would have expected to romp it home, however, Jindivick's fight was admirable and at times it seemed like they would steal the game. James Vela (24) top-scored for the game but even he struggled, as Jordan Smith (3-17) and Luke Hume (2-14) almost rescued the game from the fire, but in the end, Catani's experience shone through and they won by three wickets.
In the shock of the round, Longwarry climbed into the top four with a remarkable victory over Warragul at Eastern Park. Resuming in trouble at 8-85, the Crows managed to squeeze out 42 more runs, as Shaun Eckhardt (24) and the rest of the tail wagged to give Longwarry a fighting chance with a total of 127.
In reply, Warragul's form did not hold up, as their inexperience on turf shone through, with the likes of Tyler Constantine and Matt Bow unable to fire.
Paddy Mulqueen (31) held the innings together for a brief period but no-one aided his innings, as Dom Pullen (2-3), Nicholas Pullen (2-13), Justin McCleary (2-29) and Yashan Samarasinghe (2-30) pulled a remarkable game from the fire with a near perfect day of cricket.