Spotswood pounce on top spot after toppling Yarraville Club

Gene Maurice starred with both the bat and ball against Yarraville Club. Photo by Damjan Janevski.

Spotswood is the new front-runner in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association senior division.

The Woodsmen have been chipping away all summer in their bid to grab the No. 1 ranking.

It finally happened with a 40-run victory over long-time leader Yarraville Club at Walker Oval on Saturday. The Clubbers tumbled to third.

Spotswood, set a target of 198 for victory when play resumed on the second day, got the runs comfortably seven down, with skipper Jeremy Brown leading the way with 81.

All-rounder Gene Maurice capped off a fine performance for the Woodsmen with 54 to go with 3-51.

Spotswood can seal top spot for the finals with a win over Airport West-St Chrostophers in the last home-and-away game at Donald McLean Reserve, starting on Saturday.

Yarraville Club is still in the hunt for a top-two finish. The Clubbers need to beat Strathmore and hope other results go their way.

In north-west division, Druids have rolled to a sixth straight win, thrashing Keilor Park outright at Shorten Reserve.

The second-placed Druids posted 9-224 in response to Keilor Park’s first-innings 115. The Parkers were bowled out a second time for 94.

Footscray United has tasted success for the first time this summer, downing Laverton by seven runs in a thriller. Mohammed Pardesi was the star for the Bulldogs, following up his 4-60 with 52 in the successful chase.

Domenic Di Guglielmo took 5-38 to lead Altona North to an 82-run win over PEGS, while Tom Kriebardis helped himself to 6-45 to inspire Seddon’s 65-run win over St Albans