Yarraville Club feels it has more to give as the Victorian Turf Cricket Association senior division season heats up.
The Clubbers are one of the sides in the finals mix and showed exactly why in a commanding win against St Albans on Saturday.
The two sides entered the match in third and fourth, but it was all the Clubbers on Saturday.
Captain-coach Mitch Johnstone said it was nice to put out a performance like that.
“We got outplayed in the previous game, so it was pretty impressive to get back to what we do best with a complete performance.”
The star of the show for the Clubbers on Saturday was Trent Lawford.
Lawford made 112 off 77 balls with 10 fours and seven sixes.
The Clubbers were all out for 249 with an over remaining.
Johnstone said Lawford didn’t have the start to the day that he would have liked, but was still able to put on a show.
“He lost his spikes and he couldn’t find his pads in typical Trent Lawford style,” Johnstone said.
“His one-day form has been extraordinary. He’s tonned up in twice this year in one-day games.
“‘He is the cheat code,’ said someone from the opposition. He rode his luck but also made his own luck.”
Johnstone said they thought they had the runs on the board to get the job done.
While confident, St Albans gave them an early scare.
“We thought they had a couple of good players,” he said. “We felt if we got a look at a couple of early wickets they couldn’t maintain the run rate.
“They got off to a flier and we didn’t bowl well up front.
“We took the pace of the ball and it changed quickly.”
The Saints were bowled out for 149 in the 32nd over.
Johnstone took three wickets along with Dilan Chandima.
The win moves the Clubbers to third spot, ahead of St Albans.
Johnstone said they felt they’d been stiff with washouts meaning they didn’t get results in games where they were in a commanding position.
“We were fourth heading into the round but we felt we had the capacity to be a bit higher,” he said.
“It’s the kind of season where there has been no consistency so we’ve seen some unpredictability in the results and states.
“We’re aiming to be fit and firing come the right time of the year.”
The challenges don’t come any bigger this weekend as they face Deer Park in a Saturday-Sunday clash.
The sides sit second and third and have played off in the past two grand finals.
Johnstone said the two sides have had some good battles the last couple of years and they would like to atone for last season’s grand final loss.
In other results, Altona North lost to Deer Park.
Altona made 153 as it was bowled out in the 39th over.
Deer Park finished 4-159 in reply in the 26th over.
