The Altona and Williamstown rivalry takes on even more meaning with the two clubs now playing for the Hodges-MacFarlane Shield in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association east-west.
The two long-time rivals took to the field for day one of the clash on Saturday, with the Seagulls batting themselves into a strong position.
A’s coach Liam Keating said it was special to play for the trophy which honours two club legends, Gordon MacFarlane and Brenton Hodges.
“The president and committee came up with it,” he said.
“He [Gordon] is the best player I’ve played with. He’s played 300 games and is the club’s leading wicket taker.
“He won a lot of games and I learned a lot from him. He used to be really competitive and he liked to beat them [Williamstown] so he’ll be cheering a little louder.”
Hodges played his 300th game last season, the first player in the Seagulls history to achieve that.
Hodges has been captain and coach, a multiple club champion, club games recorder holder, leading wicketkeeper in the club’s history and second for most first XI runs.
On Saturday, the Seagulls, who are winless, won the toss and decided to bat.
They made 9-253. Sean Sturrock top scored with 62.
“It’s a really competitive score,” Keating said. “They didn’t lose wickets in clumps.
“Sometimes it can be taken away from you but we played pretty well after tea and kept them under 300.
Adam Yates took five wickets for the A’s.
Keating said if they can get a couple of good partnerships they were confident of being able to chase the runs down.
A win here would further cement the A’s spot up the table to the table heading into the final rounds before Christmas.
They have a 4-1 record.
“We’ve had a really good start and it’s nice to start the season this way,” Keating said.
“You always want to get off to a good start so you’re not behind the eight ball.
“It’s important to keep the momentum up. We play eight games before Christmas and there’s a T20 which can go either way.
“If we can continue on, we reset and it almost starts again after Christmas.”
In other matches, Spotswood is in a good spot against Donvale.
The Woodsmen made 7-374 from their overs with Blayde Baker scoring 118 at the top of the order.
Yarraville finds itself in a strong position against Box Hill.
The Eagles were able to restrict Box Hill to 200 as it was bowled out in the 73rd over,
Akshat Buch and Alexander Wood took four wickets each for the Eagles.
The Eagles will resume at 1-16.
