Yarra Junction goes down fighting

The YVCA D J Strachan Shield completed the first two-day matches of the season on Saturday. The home side was dismissed for 189 under good weather. Ben Lever made 50 and Gerard Searle 30, Steve Flutter 29 and Brad Jones 25 contributed while Hugh Wadsworth with 3 for 36 and R. Black 3 for 45 were the pick of the bowlers in the match where Launching Place United was defeated being bowled out for 91.
Healesville were in a fine position to control day 2 against Gruyere District with 306 runs to its credit. Gruyere reached 9 for 193 in the chase with Luke Sarre 49, Neil Waixel 32 and MattTilney 31the main contributors for the defeated side. The pick of the Healesville bowlers were Tyson Carruthers 3 for 35 and Scott Hamer 2/26.
At Wandin, under difficult conditions Woori Yallock had too big a total of 340 to chase. Woori Yallock were dismissed for 147 with Paul Broussard making 34 and Andrew Sharp top scoring with 42. The old and the new shared the bowling honours for Wandin with Gary Frankovic taking 4 for 26 and Simon Young 3 for 29 ably assisted by Wayne Ross with 3 for 11.
Having made 239, Hoddles Creek bowlers needed to bowl steadily to hold Coldstream, which they did as the visitors could only manage 124 with John Devisser taking 5 for 18 and Brenton Derix 4 for 29 doing the damage for the “wombats.” Sean Walliker who made 33 was the best for Coldstream with the bat.
On their home turf, Warbuton Millgrove batsmen needed to put their heads down and bat extremely well to reach Mt Evelyn’s tally of 9/318. But Warbuton Millgrove managed only 186 with Scott Darwall making 50 and Johnny Heywood 36.
Seville needing to bat better than in previous matches to chase Silvans’ 282, but in the end it was a strong win to Silvan with only Rob Henderson making 61 and Richard Dicello 54 really causing the bowlers any trouble.
In the R A Finger Trophy competition, Woori Yallock, all out for 136 and 6/134 in the second innings (Steggles 53) lost to Wandin 8/325 with Dean Martins making 38 and Gosland 32 not out and R. Steggles capturing 4/86.
In a match where wickets tumbled steadily, Yarra Glen, first all out for 62 and then dismissed for 144, with Nick Tucker making 55, lost outright to Healesville dismissed for 91 and then 3/117 with Richard Maile making 37, Young 29, Nigel Wilkes 25 and Sam Watts 20. John Orren with 2 for 34 was the pick of the bowlers.
In a nail biting tussle at Seville, chasing 199 Yarra Junction were ever so close, but failed in the end being dismissed for 196. In the final 100 minutes of play six wickets fell with only 60 runs made.For Yarra Junction Matt Hammond top scored with 56, with Beau Hawkins 32 and Glen Thompson 31 while the pick of the bowlers for Seville was Garth Woodford with 5 for 56.
At home Mt Evelyn were set to chase down Warburton Milgrove’s 291, but could not get there as they were dismissed for a paltry 111 runs with D. Davey making 40 and Matt Healey 33. For Mt Evelyn, Richard Weiderman took 4 for 12 and B. Taylor 4 for 67.
The next weekend will see a return to One Day games for the Cup Weekend in the DJ Strachan Shield. Yarra Junction will travel to Coldstream and is tipped as the favourites while Seville will host Hoddles Creek with the visitors again the favoured side. Mt Evelyn hosts Silvan in a match too close to call while Warburton Millgrove will travel to Woori Yallock with the home side expected to tip the scales. Launching Place United will play host to Gruyere District and either side could come out on top here. Healesville will host Wandin in the match of the round.