Tallarook made its way on to the Seymour District Cricket Association A-grade winners’ list for the first time this season courtesy of a clinical 19-run win over Seymour on Saturday.
Leigh Irving was the star of the show for Tallarook, with his unbeaten 67 proving the difference between the two sides on what was a bowler-friendly wicket at Tallarook Recreation Reserve.
The home side also got valuable contributions from Shane Topham (20) and Ben Tarran (20) with the bat, as they put forward a more than competitive total of 6-158 on the board.
To the Maroons’ credit, they fought hard with the bat, making Tallarook work for it right until the final ball as Jason Brown battled dutifully to finish with a patient 55.
But in the end Tallarook had the class required to get the job done with the ball, as skipper Lachlan Watts (3-37) and Topha (3-36) combined for six wickets to dismiss Seymour for 139.
The result catapults Tallarook up into third spot on the SDCA A-grade ladder, while Seymour remains winless on the bottom of the table.
The other A-grade clash saw Broadford sneak past a brave Yea Tigers outfit by four wickets at Harley Hammond Reserve.
A devastating opening spell by seamer James Jones proved the catalyst for the Broadford victory, with his 3-9 seeing it restrict the Tigers to just 9-84 in the first innings.
Yea stalwart Andrew Chisholm did all he could to bring his team back into the contest with a clinical five-wicket haul.
But the class of the Broadford batting unit shone through in the finish, with an unbeaten 22 by skipper Gareth Sharp serving as the cornerstone of a chase it successfully completed in 16.4 overs for the loss of six wickets.
The result, which was Broadford’s second straight win to begin the season, sees it remain locked in second spot on the A-grade ladder, while Yea Tigers dropped to fourth with their second loss of the season.
B-grade action was highlighted by a stunning 116 from Pyalong’s Paul Dugard against Broadford.
It was an incredible innings from start to finish, with the opener sending it to all parts of Pyalong Recreation Reserve to set up a monstrous first innings total of 3-256.
The Pyalong bowlers then went to work in the second innings, with Damien Zoch’s 3-12 the headline act as they dismissed Broadford for just 94 to secure a dominant victory.
Marysville District was the other B-grade winner, as it triumphed by 11 runs in a low-scoring thriller against Avenel.
Bowled out for just 71 in the first innings, it appeared the Villains were destined for a tough loss.
But an inspired bowling performance saw Marysville District pull out a win for the ages, as it managed to bowl the Swans out for just 60.
Meanwhile in C-grade, an all-round day out by Broadford’s Braden Hickey against Alexandra was the headline act.
Starting with the bat, Hickey was dominant in his efforts, striking an unbeaten 98 that included eight fours and a whopping eight sixes.
He then backed it up with ball in hand, taking 2-29 off his seven overs to lead Broadford to a clinical 71-run win.
The other C-grade match from the weekend saw Yea Tigers easily account for Pyalong by eight wickets.
The SDCA now enters a three-week Christmas break, with the next round of matches set to take place on Saturday, January 7.