IT’S big news when Yarraville Club loses a home-and-away match in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association senior division — let alone in the brutal fashion it did in the season opener.
The Clubbers didn’t have to swallow the bitter pill of defeat too often during their amazing premiership four-peat, but they received a hefty dose of their own medicine in a 145-run loss to Bentleigh on the road on Saturday.
Set 254 for first-innings points, the Clubbers were rolled for 108 and need vast improvement when they make their home debut against McKinnon in a two-day match at Walker Oval starting Saturday.
Spotswood has big expectations under new skipper Andrew Dickinson. The Woodsmen kickstarted their campaign with a solid 54-run win over South Caulfield at Donald McLean Reserve.
Having made 7-240 on day one on the back of superb batting from Abhijeet Sharma (57), Dickinson (47) and Ryan Warnock (44), the Woodsmen defended their total to perfection, bowling the visitors out for 186.
Matt Leddin led the way with the ball, taking 5-35 off 15.4 overs, while Dickinson did a power of work to finish with 4-33 off 16.
The Woodsmen will visit Hoppers Crossing over the next two Saturdays.
In north division, Footscray United drew first blood with a gutsy 55-run win over Williamstown CYMS on their visit to Fearon Reserve.
The Bulldogs successfully defended their score of 237 on the back of a four-wicket haul to second-change bowler Sudesh Nand and a further three wickets to the ever-reliable Tarique Jeffrey.
Laverton had a memorable introduction to life in the VTCA’s second tier, defending 196 against Sunshine Druids at Shorten Reserve.
The Magpies were staring down the barrel with Druids marching confidently to 1-88, but the game took an incredible twist with their last nine wickets falling for 61.
Shaun Delaney bowled impeccably, taking 4-33 off 16 overs, including both openers. Matthew O’Brien chimed in with 3-24.
Altona North was 78 runs short of Tullamarine’s 239 at Tullamarine Reserve.
In the north A1 match of the day between Altona Roosters and East Keilor, the Roosters held on for dear life to win by 31 runs.
Set a mammoth 352 for victory, East Keilor fought every step of the way, but ran out of overs to be left stranded on 9-320.
Seddon celebrated a season-opening 122-run win over Sunshine United at Hanmer Reserve.
In the west B1, Footscray ANA turned a first-innings loss into an outright win over Avondale Heights, thanks largely to a 10-wicket match from Jamie Wills.
The news was not so good for Barkly Street Uniting, which lost to Sunshine Heights by 31 runs. There was no play on day two between Kingsville Baptists and Point Cook.
VTCA RESULTSSenior division: Bentleigh 9-253 (ES Bronca 2-39 M Boglis 2-42) and 5-81 d Yarraville Club 108; Spotswood 7-240 (A Sharma 57 A Dickinson 47 R Warnock 44 D Buysen 26) and 2-62 d South Caulfield 186 (M Leddin 5-35 A Dickinson 4-33).
North division: Williamstown CYMS 182 (B Millar 70 C Fernando 53 S Nand 4-50 T Jeffrey 3-61 Y Ushan 2-33) lt Footscray United 237 (F Syed 70 SD Ainge 47 R Kardachi 31 T Jeffrey 25 A Leetet 4-47 F Henry 3-37) and 4-104 (SD Ainge 57 A Leetet 3-22); Tullamarine 239 (M Saunders 3-52 SP Mandalika 3-57 B Huxtable 2-41) and 1-51 d Altona North 161; Sunshine Druids 149 (S Delaney 4-33 M O’Brien 3-24) lt Laverton 196 (R Baker 52 M Logan 42) and 6-149 (M Logan 40 M Schirmer 27).
North A1: Seddon 9-278 (DC Udugamasooriya 98 TJ Grant 56 J Van Kruining 51 T Weerasinghe 37) and 4-19 d Sunshine United 156 (T Matkovic 3-32 T Kriebardis 3-38 TJ Grant 2-8 T Weerasinghe 2-12); Altona Roosters 7-351 (G Gabrielson 61 A Peters 60 N Weiman 56 M Davies-Bing 42 L Lewis 41 D Pham 38no) d East Keilor 9-320 (A Peters 4-49 J Singh 2-68 L Lewis 2-83)
West B1: Footscray ANA 102 and 3-77 (D Veteha 27no) d Avondale Heights 106 (J Wills 3-12 T Cooper 3-15 D Veteha 2-16) and 68 (J Wills 7-32 T Cooper 3-34); Kingsville Baptists 135 (J Hillis 64) drew Point Cook 0-12; Barkly Street Uniting 185 (C Danaher 44 L Danaher 43 A Mosca 38) lt Sunshine Heights 8-216 (L Danaher 3-23 S Lucas 2-26).
