Bill Williams Goulburn B-grade Shield
The top three sides in the competition continue to distance themselves from the rest of the pack with Rushworth, Echuca and Colbinabbin securing victories in round six.
In the battle of the big cats, the Tigers (118) managed to bowl out the Lions (104) in 30 overs, just 24 runs short of victory.
Thomas Stevens (26) and Liam Francis (30) proved to be the only points of promise with the bat for the Tigers, while the former also starred with the ball, collecting figures of 4-17.
Meanwhile, BLU similarly struggled with bat in hand. Jake Toll (21) and Xavier Kellow (31 not out) were the only two to score more than 20 for the Lions.
Oscar Palmer posted the best BLU bowling figures, tallying 3-23 from five overs.
While Stanhope (138) and Colbinabbin (168) were both bowled out in the 36th over of their individual innings, the latter did just enough to claim victory.
First drop Charles Ryan (63) was the standout for Colbo, with captain Fletcher White providing a nice cameo (26) at the top of the order.
Adam McPhee was a spearhead for the Ducks against Stanhope, taking stellar figures of 4-3 from three overs.
Stanhope’s openers Bradd Stewart (53) and Matthew Evans (33) looked promising but received no assistance from the rest of the batting line-up, with no other batsman scoring more than 15.
Echuca’s (7-223) victory over Moama (167) was the most impressive of the round, with the Mowers still searching for their first win of the season.
Nick Dolan (62) and Rory Carlile (47) led the charge for the men in green while captain Harry Kennedy-Ripon (3-22) broke through with the ball.
The combination of Duane Johns (33) and Stuart Taylor (53) at six and seven was a bright spot for Moama, who still ended up 56 runs short of Echuca’s total.
Taylor (2-27) and Alex Kidd (2-32) were the only bowlers with multiple wickets for the Mowers.
Kyabram Fire Brigade (4-170) chased down Elmore’s (7-168) score in 33 overs to knock on the door of the top four as the halfway point of the season approaches.
Luke Price’s unbeaten 61 led the way for Elmore, with Tyler Oliver playing a nice cameo of 35, while Tom Morris had best figures of 2-31.
The Flames were more consistent with the bat as Sam Spedding’s 61, Matt Owen’s unbeaten 37 and Jarrod Chapman’s figures of 2-22 powered them to victory.
Bill Williams Murray B-grade Shield
Echuca South (8-171) managed to overcome Rochester (170) with seven balls remaining to cement third spot in the competition.
Rochester’s Donald Young (42) and Mitch Crawford (36 not out) top scored in the first innings, while Mark Macfarlane (4-28) proved vital with the ball.
The Swans’ number five Nicholas McKenner (60) came up big for his side, but it was the bowling of Ben Walker (3-22) and Joel Stephens (3-26) that won them the day.
Cooma (154) held on to top spot for another week after defending its small total against Nondies-Cohuna (142).
Hunter Fawcett (38) and Ben Napier (36) made solid contributions with the bat, while Jake Hubble (4-43) broke through with his five overs.
It was a committee effort by Nondies with four players scoring 20 or more runs, but none scored more than 23.
Matthew Robinson (4-21) and Logan Higgs (3-23) brought Nondies close to victory with their bowling.
Leitchville-Gunbower (173) is nipping at Cooma’s heels for top spot in the league after downing Moama (9-128) in round six.
Scott Lucas (41) and Jasper Hare’s (32) partnership gave L-G a good platform to bowl at, while Zac Hegerty had best figures of 2-19.
Meanwhile, it was all in the family for Moama with Luke (25) and Tighe Teasdale (27) proving to be the key run scorers, while Jamie Horkings took 3-29 in defeat.
Tongala (103) beat Girgarre (73) convincingly in their match-up, with the Blues looking to maintain their top-four form.
Batting first, Charles Lowe (42 not out) scored more than half of Girgarre’s runs with no-one else providing much assistance.
The Kangaroos fared better with the ball as Benjamin Campbell took 4-29.
Sid Jani (20) was the only batsman to score anything significant for Tongala while Callum Tucker ended with figures of 4-12.
Gus Underwood C-grade Shield
Elmore (9-232) put on a dominant batting display to defeat Rochester (7-152) in their round six match-up.
The Redbacks had plenty of runs across the board with Rhys Holmberg (55 not out) and Aaron Juffs (43) the standouts, while Dylan Chique (4-26) followed up with ball in hand.
More strong batting performances were found elsewhere with Ky Fire Brigade (8-212) proving too strong for BLU (168).
Brodie Boal-Ryan (73) and Sam Vick (69) starred with the bat for the Flames while Vick also took 5-27.
Girgarre (108) was able to defend its small total against Stanhope (97).
Billie Gahan (56) scored more than half of the Kangaroos’ runs, while Jake Tooley walked away with 4-15 from his eight overs.
Echuca (0-49) cruised to an easy victory over Cooma (6-47) in a shortened game.
Bailey Hiscock (21) was the pick of the batsmen for Cooma while Echuca’s openers Xavier Carmichael (14 not out) and Ashley Smith (24 not out) guided their team to victory.
Peter Raglus D-grade Shield
Stanhope (6-161) triumphed over Echuca (8-152) in their contest which saw Jake Fisher (53), Thomas Hepburn (50) and Cooper Fisher (4-24) starring.
Moama (9-125) beat Rushworth (9-124) with a wicket and two overs to spare with Scott McCallum’s 77 not out and Sam McCleary’s 3-18 the picks of the litter.
Tonny (6-115) handily defeated Ky Fire Brigade (114) in their match-up with Jeff Turpin’s unbeaten 52 the linchpin for the victory.