John Taylor put on a brave face to lead Seddon to a 75-run win over Altona North in the VTCA north west division at Hanmer Reserve on Saturday.
Taylor went into bat with a back injury, and still produced a match-winning 89 for the Dockers.
The former Fitzroy-Doncaster player showed great fortitude to put his discomfort to one side and focus on the task at hand.
“He’s an ex-district cricketer, and to play at a high level as he has, he’s got the mental capacity to get over it,” Dockers’ secretary Rolf Tamburro told Star Weekly.
“He was a bit restricted playing square shots because of the back, but he played some nice straight drives. It was a fantastic innings.”
Seddon made a shaky start to its chase of North’s 158 by losing 2-24. But Taylor combined with Dellon Udugamasooriya (42) for a 103-run third wicket partnership to leave no doubt where the points would be heading.
Late runs from Hayden Dryiski (19) and Tom Kriebardis (26) put a bit of icing on the Dockers’ cake.
It capped a fine outing for Kriebardis, who also took 3-22 off 15.3 overs with his left arm off spin.
Kriebardis is showing no signs of slowing down, at 52 years of age.
“Tommy’s been playing ones for us since he was 17,” Tamburro said.
“He’s more of a bowler now, but earlier on, he was a gun bat.
“He’s still a very good bowler, very economical, and the figures showed.”
Seddon moved up to fifth on the ladder – just one point outside the top four.
The Dockers face sixth-placed West Coburg back at Hanmer Reserve in the last game before the break, while Altona North will host second-last Laverton, with the loser to be anchored on the bottom of the ladder at Christmas.
Spotswood heaped more pain on Laverton with an outright victory at McLean Reserve.
Ross Horkings made 88 and Ashley Robertson took four second innings wickets for the Woodsmen.
In senior division, Yarraville Club cruised to an 88-run first innings win over Bonbeach Tangy at the Bonbeach Sports Oval.
The Clubbers jumped up to fourth, ahead of a trip to Doutta Stars.
In west A1, Altona Roosters kept their winning streak alive with a nail-biting first innings win over Kingsville Baptists at Skinner Reserve.
The Roosters are 19 points clear on top of the ladder, and a clear favourite for the minor premiership.
In west B1, Joshua Eason-Jones scored an even 100, as West Newport got the points over Point Cook at Loft Reserve.
