AFTER three rounds of action in the DJSS Strachan Shield, it is apparent that teams will need to make the most of opportunities to secure finals actions.
Coldstream sits on top of the ladder undefeated after inflicting Seville’s second loss in a row.
After a disappointing finish to last season, the Crocs seem determined to get back to their premiership winning ways of 2011 and 2012.
Coldstream opened up proceedings with the bat and scratched away at a very good Seville attack.
The battle between the Seville quicks and Coldstream opener Danny Adams was an intriguing one, as Adams set the foundations of a reasonable score.
With Adams going out on 43, just as he looked set to capitalise, the Crocs batting line-up struggled to gain any momentum against the brutal pace of Matt Hadlum (3/34) and the guile and experience of Matt Tilney (2/17) and Dean Troyhan (2/23).
Eventually the Crocs were bowled out for 130, a barely defendable score.
Despite Seville dominating the competition over the past four or five seasons, its weakness lies in its batting and this was again exposed by the disciplined Crocs attack.
The Blues top order wilted against their conqueror in the 2011 and 2012 grand final Matt Stark (4/20) who combined well with Jarrod Bayliss (3/19) to leave the visitor’s innings in disarray.
It was left to two cricketers at different ends of the spectrum in Gary Quilty (32) and Lachlan Johnson (29) to try and rescue the innings, but the task was too great as the Blues were bowled out for 112, 18 runs short of their target.
Woori Yallock travelled to Mount Evelyn in search of their first win of the season after narrowly missing out in the first two rounds.
The Tigers won the toss, and elected to bat, and new captain Dan Mock (46) soon showcased his immense talent as he lead his side to a commanding position.
The steady Stuart Davis (57) ensured his captain’s hard work did not go unrewarded and with the powerful hitting Simon Young (22) the Tigers put together a commanding 6/191.
Kane Jones was the pick of the bowlers with 2/35.
After great success chasing in the opening two rounds, and on a fast Mount Evelyn oval, the Rovers were confident of getting the runs.
With an intriguing battle between bat and ball, the Rovers navigated themselves to 91 without loss at the drinks break and looked well on track to chase down the total.
But with the fall of Chris Anderson (25) and Brad Jones (64) soon after the break, and without a contribution from Kane Jones, the tide quickly turned for the Tigers.
Against the disciplined bowling of the visitors, the Rovers struggled to keep the run rate in check and were eventually bowled out in the last over for 174.
Off spinner Chippa Hayes was the main beneficiary of the chase for quick runs as he claimed an excellent 5/37.
Warburton-Millgrove has put its hat in the ring as it too remain undefeated after a scratchy but successful game against Hoddles Creek.
Batting first, the Burras made a meal of their innings, succumbing to an understated Wombats bowling line-up for a disappointing 92.
Club stalwarts Jeremy Derix (4/15) and the surprising Michael Batten (4/30), tore through the home side, to give their side the advantage.
The Wombats would have been confident of chasing down the mediocre target, however for the second week in a row, the Burra’s bowling showed some backbone as it bowled out another opposition side for under 100.
None of the visitor’s batsmen could establish themselves at the crease and this lead to calamitous result.
Unheralded youngster Connor Loughnan (3/14) continued his good form, as he led his more senior teammates to victory.
Adam Humphrey (3/16) showed nothing beats experience, while Liam Barnard (3/34) proved that any type of bowling can get wickets.
Eventually the Wombats were dismissed for a dismal 84, eight short of the Burra’s total.
In the final game of the round, Healesville flexed their muscles in its clash against a disappointing Yarra Junction, as it has bounced back after its opening round loss to well and truly put itself in the mix.
Healesville batted first on the beautiful Queen’s Park oval and, for the third week in a row, systematically built a total in which its opposition would find hard to chase.
After an even battle up front between bat and ball, the pairing of Irish all-rounder Brian Scanlon (45) and Scott Hamer (41) ensured the Bloods’ innings had momentum right through to the finish as the home side posted a sizeable 7/170.
By no means was this an unattainable total for the Eagles, but the visitors lack depth in their batting stocks, and this was again exposed by an improving Bloods bowling attack.
The Eagles made a bright enough start with disciplined youngster Marcel Kocher (33) showing some grit that his more fancied teammates could learn from but without significant contributions from the Lever brothers and the inform Cam Spaulding, the Eagles wilted to be all out for 85.
Ash Hamer (4/25) finally got some rewards for his excellent bowling, while brother Scott has been a surprise packet with the ball this season as he rounded out and excellent all-round game taking a masterful 5/15.
DJ Strachan Shield
Warburton-Millgrove 10/92 (Morris 28, Derix 4/15, Batten 4/30) d Hoddles Creek 10/84 (Derix 17, Williams 17, Loughnan 3/14, Humphrey 3/16, Barnard 3/34).
Coldstream 10/130 (Adams 43, Tucker 21, Hadlum 3/34, Tilney 2/17, Troyhan 2/23) d Seville 10/112 (Quilty 32, Johnson 29, Stark 4/20, Bayliss 3/19, Vaux 1/22).
Healesville 7/170 (Scanlon 45, Hamer 41, Lever 2/35, Hodgkinson 2/38) d Yarra Junction 10/85 (Kocher 33, Lever 21, Hamer 5/15, Hamer 4/25).
Woori Yallock 6/191 (Davis 57, Mock 46, Dwyer 29, Jones 2/35) d Mount Evelyn 9/174 (Jones 64, Fraser 28, Anderson 25, Hayes 5/37, Mock 2/29).
RA Finger Trophy
Seville 2/100 (Rackham 39, Pegg 1/8) d Coldstream 10/91 (Brambilla 21, Dall 4/6).
Healesville 10/141 (Davern 31, Campbell 26, James 20, Richards 4/26, Lowery 2/8, Fall 2/25) d Yarra Junction 10/137 (Bickerton 60, Ottrey 26, Kerr 4/36, Pearce 3/29).
Yarra Glen 4/145 (Adamson 70, Cowan 33, Sanders 3/35) d Woori Yallock 10/144 (Worlley 68, White 3/6, Wallace 3/26).
Hoddles Creek 4/164 (Rankin 78, Bell 23, Abela 3/12) d Warburton/Millgrove 10/157 (Abela 47, Brown 42, LeMan 4/20).
C Grade
Launching Place 9/174 (Vandervlugt 89, McConnell 30, Spakman 5/34) d Healesville 10/126 (Waixel 46, Winter-Annette 4/42, Young 2/16).
Marysville 3/151 (Fisher 83, Hilder 30, Schnieder 1/1) d Mount Evelyn 7/143 (Doyle 42, Williams 35, Goldstraw 1/8, Cummins 2/26).
Seville v Wandin (no score).
D Grade
Wandin 10/146 (Dolan 63, Mullins 2/17) d Seville 9/113 (Johnson 29, Mullins 21, Foden 4/21).
Powelltown 7/329 (Cornish 71, Mcrory 65, Bamford 2/52) d Warburton-Millgrove 10/72 (Segal 29, Neale 4/15, Thompson 3/20).
Yarra Junction 2/52 (Winter 21, Gaskett 17) d Hoddles Creek 9/41 (Gough 14, Nightingale 3/5, Lubeck 2/6).
Healesville 9/155 (Fawdry 66, Methven 22, Rowley 2/16, Riley 2/17) d Launching Place 10/126 (Rogers 24, Rowley 21, Bolch 2/11, Methven 2/14, Fawdry 2/15).
Mt Evelyn 7/183 (Westaway 73, Williams 40, Pickett 2/17, Pegg 2/42) d Coldstream 10/181 (Creedy 41, Gibbs 50, Finch 4/15, Meades 2/30, Lee-Archer 2/57).
One Day Grade
Wandin 7/142 (Trembath 40, Alderman 31, Bakken 2/14, Dall 2/15) d Seville 7/132 (Pearse 41, Summers 16, Sinnot 2/13).
Yarra Glen Gold 9/101 (Davey 17, Woods 11, Bourke 11, Davies 3/5, Davies 2/5, Woods 2/6) d Yarra Glen Maroon 94 (Lusk 27, Moors 24, Lusk 2/12, Beath 2/18, Cummings 2/2).
Woori Yallock d Healesville (forfeit).
Silvan 7/95 (Dipietriantonio 40, Ford 3/12) d Yarra Junction 10/88 (Labroche 17, Boxell 20, Innazone 2/6).
Under 16
Seville Blue 2/105 (Dall 33, Garner 29, Cook 1/16) d Yarra Junction/Hoddles Creek 8/73 (Chesney 15, Kennedy 2/8, Dall 2/8).
Healesville Red 5/93 (Daly 28, Senior 22, Smith 2/3, Moate 1/1, Adamson 1/3) d Yarra Glen 10/ 57 (Bunn 2/7, Senior 1/2).
Healesville White 8/78 (N Simon 2/9 D Kerr 19) d Coldstream 10/35 (L Pickett 22no, B Binion 4/7, L Hellary 2/2).
Seville Gold (Caldwell 20, Butler 1/5, Oultram 1/9) d Mt Evelyn 4/77 (Oultram 16, Williams 13, Thompson 12, Corbett 2/12, Mullins 1/1).
Under 14A
Seville 7/74 (Spargo 20, Jones 14, Thorsen 1/9) d Healesville White 3/71 (Minney 35, Peters 1/3, Page 1/7).
Warburton-Millgrove 3/69 (Brayden 18, Tyson 8, Kaempkes 1/0) d Marysville 8/38 (Kaempkes 16, Bebbington 4, Caleb 2/0, Finn 2/3).
Mt Evelyn 2/68 (Lee-Archer 27, Shelfout 21, Dennis 1/5, Simmnet 1/15) d Healesville 7/53 (Keeling 10, Chandler 9, Van Hoogenstraten 3/13, Thomas 2/7).
Under 14B
Coldstream 2/46 d Yarra Junction 3/42 (Foley 14).
Yarra Glen vs. Woori Yallock/Launching Place (no scores).
Under 12
Launching Place 5/68 (Briggs 11, Briggs 9, Wasley 1/2, Rooney 1/3) d Marysville 8/39 (Bellingham 5, Wilson 4, Winter-Annette 3/5, Parker 2/5, Parker 2/2).
Seville 8/41 (Leeds 5, Crowley-Brown 1/2, Read 1/4, Huynh 1/1) d Warburton Millgrove 4/40 (Taeuber 5, Proctor 1/1, Kay 1/1, Hardy 1/2).
Healesville White 5/47 (Lever 3, Allisley 1/1, O’Dea 1/5) d Yarra Junction 8/23 (Ailisley 4, Lever 3/2, Kennedy 2/0).
Mt Evelyn 2/77 (Jones 8, Taylor 8, Murphy 4)d Healesville Red 5/53 (Fay 5, Boyle 3, Shepherd 2/2, Taylor 1/5, Finch 1/3, Macleod 1/10).
Hoddles Creek 5/77 d Yarra Glen Gold 4/63.
