Youth Club leapfrogged its way into top spot on the A Grade table following another comprehensive victory at the weekend.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Clubbers recorded their second outright victory in three two-day matches to move into first place.
Aradale resumed its first innings in trouble at 4-41 against the Clubbers at Central Park. They were unable to make further inroads, getting knocked over for 93, trailing the Clubbers by 203 runs at the end of the innings.
They were sent back into bat with the follow on, changing the batting order to try and hold off the rampant Clubbers bowling lineup.
Tyler Cronin (49) and Mark Fulton (82) were the shining lights for Aradale in a much-improved innings. Despite a stronger batting effort, they still fell 28 runs short of Youth Club’s first innings total, handing all 10 points over to the Stawell-based side.
“We had to work hard all day but we were able to chip away enough to take the wickets we needed for an outright win,” Youth Club opening bowler Cam Kimber said.
“They made us work hard for the wickets in the second innings.”
Clint Slorach capped the game off perfectly for the Clubbers, ending the game with a hat-trick.
Kimber continued his strong form with the ball for the Clubbers, picking up eight wickets for the game to take his tally to 25 for the season.
He is the leading wicket taker in the competition.
Further down the highway at Great Western it was the Combine that had another win but left the door open for the Clubbers to move into top spot.
Swifts-Great Western had St Andrews at 3-23, chasing 190 at the resumption of day two.
St Andrews was able to dry up overs, reducing chances of an outright loss.
The Combine was too strong in the end, knocking the visitors over for 134 for a 56-run first innings win.
Tom Mills put together a crucial knock of 36 for St Andrews to help end any chance of a Combine outright victory.
Matthew Fitzgerald made the step up from B to A Grade for the Combine, repaying the faith with figures of 5-32 to help his side pick up the six points.
The game between Pomonal and Buangor-Tatyoon at Ararat’s Alexandra Oval was washed out.
Persistent rain on Friday was deemed to have made the pitch unplayable, resulting in the sides sharing the points in a draw.
Pomonal was in a strong position, having set a strong target of 235 for Buangor-Tatyoon to chase down.
The two sides are jostling for third and fourth spot and a win to one team would have gone a long way to securing their finals chances.
Halls Gap enjoyed the round off with the bye.
