Interesting results for division four
The conclusion of round 13 produced some interesting results as Hallora and Drouin kept their finals hopes alive with wins over Jindivick Gold and Iona respectively.
Longwarry tightened its grip on third spot with a huge win over Warragul while Jindivick Black sit six points clear of second at the top of the table.
The final round of the home and away season promises to be a blockbuster with four teams still a chance to finish in fourth place.
Hawks sneak into four
Drouin 10/217 def Iona 10/188 A stunning bowling performance from Drouin’s Matt Barrand has seen the Hawks overtake Iona to claim fourth spot on the ladder.
With the Swamp Tigers travelling comfortably at 0/66, Barrand quickly snared the important wickets of Graeme Rankin (26) and Sean McCormack to set the home side on the back foot.
Pressure continued to build with Adin Short (3/46) removing Brayden Hoskins (29) and Lachlan Morris as Iona slumped to 4/88.
Michael Scully (62*) led a one-man counter attack but the remainder of the batting line-up were no match for Barrand as he tore through the middle and lower order to finish the day with the incredible figures of 7/53 off 28 overs, which included 10 maidens.
The win puts Drouin three points ahead of Iona, but they face a massive challenge this weekend when they take on ladder leaders Jindivick Black.
Iona will also have their work cut out for them as they face second placed Jindivick Gold.
Huge target too much
Hallora 10/323 def Jindivick Gold 10/254 Hallora has kept its finals aspirations alive with a clinical win over Jindivick Gold.
Set a huge target, the Jumping Jacks made a solid start before losing quick wickets to be in trouble at 3/50.
This set the tone for the innings as their batsmen made starts but struggled to form partnerships.
Ben Rowe kept the scorers busy chiming in late with 45 but the highlight of the day was still to come as Brayden Rintoule and Mick Gnaden put on a stoic 79-run partnership for the last wicket.
Rintoule produced his best knock at senior level to finish with 34 not out while Gnaden shored up his claims as an all-rounder with a season high 45.
Best of the bowlers (and only multiple wicket taker) was Michael Lynch with 4/49.
The Kangas will be keen to carry this form into its clash with Warragul as a win could see them finish fourth depending on other results.
Jindivick take on Iona out at Murray Road with the clash potentially sealing the Swamp Tigers fate as a loss would see them out of finals contention.
Crows crush Warragul
Longwarry 8/344 (cc) def Warragul 10/115 & 3/82
Longwarry has put the rest of the competition on notice after a crushing win over Warragul at the weekend.
Faced with the daunting challenge of chasing a 300 pluss target, the Gulls were never in the hunt with early wickets proving costly.
Daniel Best (48) provided stern resistance but with only cameos from John Mulqueen (19) and Luke Smith (15*) it was more a question of when not if the visitor would be bowled out.
The end came with the Gulls still 229 runs in arrears with plenty of time left in the day.
Asked to bat for a second time, Warragul held off the Crows to deny the home side an outright victory with Best again doing the bulk of the work with 53.
Jordan Kingi was easily the man-of-thematch returning figures of 3/27 and 1/19 after making a sensational century on day one.
Bob Thomas was at his wily best in the first dig snaring 3/25 with good support from Nick Pullen who took 2/24 with the new ball.
Warragul take on Hallora in the final round and while still a mathematical possibility of finishing fourth, this result appears unlikely.
Longwarry has a much easier run to the finals with their place already assured when they face bottom of the ladder side Ellinbank.