Belgrave miss out on crucial points

WELCOME rain had an unwelcome effect on the two top grades in the FTGDCA for Belgrave Cricket Club this week.
The firsts missed out on an almost certain six points as they had Mountain Gate reeling at 5/48 in reply to Belgrave’s 248 from last week.
The three points leaves Belgrave half a game in front of fourth-placed Eildon Park and a full game in front of Mountain Gate in fifth place, and facing bottom of the table Lysterfield in the next round.
The seconds will lose top spot to Knox after the latter narrowly won the only completed game in the round.
Jake Pinwill did well on day one to take 4 wickets while Tom Wulz and Doug Oaten were scoring runs this week.
Still, the seconds have a fairly smooth run home, and should be sure of top two finishes come finals time.
The thirds went all the way in spite of the weather bowling Lysterfield’s 4ths out for a paltry 121.
Ben Weekes was the main destroyer taking 4/33 and doing his best to emulate Craig White’s run out from the England match last Friday.
Sean Connolly took 3/62. With Aura Vale drawing, Belgrave will take top spot by 3 points.
The fourths also managed to defy the weather to bring home the points, but only after some spirited opposition from St Johns Tecoma.
Looking to keep in touch with the ladder leaders, St Johns took the fight right up to the Belgrave boys, but after a revival in bowling fortunes following the tea break, Belgrave were finally able to defend their 338 total, St Johns all out for 270.
Simon Feeney did best with the ball taking 4/28 while Richard McNamara overcame a difficult start to his first game for the season by taking 3/81.
The fifths slid further away from a finals berth with a loss to Aura Vale.
Defending only 125, they could only take 6 Aura Vale wickets, with Tom Griffin and Chris Powell each taking two.
It will be difficult to scramble back into finals contention for the fifths, but as many as 5 bowlers could be back on the available list this round, so the fifths will have a strong line-up for the run home.
The one-day side didn’t play this week, but as third placed St Johns Tecoma lost, the sixths are still in with a chance to feature in the final three.