Altona has the upper hand after day one of its clash with Werribee in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association east-west.
Having picked up a win in round one, the A’s are keen to make it two in a row against a Werribee side searching for its first win of the season.
They took a huge step in the right direction on Saturday with a strong day’s play.
A’s coach Liam Keating said they were really happy with the start to the season.
“Werribee is one of the teams that have a really good side and some star recruits,” he said.
“They got off to a good start, so to keep them to 153 … we were happy with anything under 200.
“It was outstanding by the boys.”
It was one of the Tigers’ big recruits that looked like he might make the A’s job tough with Dean Russ in the runs early.
The A’s were able to get him out for 49 to halt the Tigers momentum.
“Dean and I went to high school together and he’s one of my best mates,” Keating said.
“It was good to get him when we got him as with the way he was batting he could have taken the game away from us.”
The Tigers were eventually bowled out for 153 in the 53rd over.
Adam Yates took five wickets for the A’s to be the pick of the bowlers.
The A’s will resume at 2-44 after batting 26 overs late on day one.
Vice-captain Ben Davies will resume on 21 and opener Connor Brown on 11.
Keating said they still have a lot of their star batting power in the shed putting them in a good position heading into day two.
Keating, who is in his first season as coach, said they’d had a couple of injuries early in the season, which had caused some selection headaches.
He said the likes of Adam Yates and James Grubb, two of their more experienced players, had really impressed him leading a young group which has gone deep into finals the past two seasons.
“Adam Yates made runs and took wickets in round one and took five wickets yesterday [Saturday],” he said.
“James Grubb our captain, his experience in the side guiding the group each week has been really good.
“Apart from Adam we have a young group that will hopefully stick around for a few years.
“They gel and get along really well as a team.”
In other matches, Spotswood put 279 on the board against Hoppers Crossing.
Lachie McKenna top scored with 93, while Jakson Knight scored 81.
Searching for its first win, Yarraville made 9-244 against Mt Waverley.
Michael Sheedy top scored with 69 as the middle and lower order game to the rescue.
Williamstown had a tough day against Noble Park, which made 4-360.
Chris Duffin took two wickets for the Seagulls.
