Check out all the major talking points from the weekend’s Subbies action

Weekend wrap: St Bernard’s bounce back in style against Spotswood, Altona and Williamstown finding form and Preston brings Ivanhoe back to earth.

The VSDCA North-West group continues to provide a host of weekend highlights.

There were big wins, fine centuries and a more than a few bundles of wickets.

Check out all the major talking points from Round 3 below.

PERERA INSPIRES SNOWDOGS BOUNCE BACK

Fresh of a last-start loss to Kew, St Bernard’s took out its frustrations on reigning East-West premier Spotswood on Saturday. The Snowdogs claimed a comfortable 122-run victory at College Oval. Nish Perera was the main man with the bat, smashing 82 not out from 60 balls, including eight boundaries and a six. At the top of the order, Rory Collins was super with 78, while Peter Clark added 35, to get the home team to 6-249 from their 45 overs. In response, Spotty were in early trouble with opener Jarrod Martignago out for a golden duck, caught behind off Snowdogs captain-coach Kyle Adams. He would finish with 3-30, while evergreen paceman Luke Davis snared 3-27. Ross Horkings was the Woodsmen’s best with an unbeaten 38.

CRAIG, THORNE DOMINATE FOR WILLI

Jack Craig and Zac Thorne have been two of Williamstown’s biggest recruits across the last two seasons and on Saturday they were front and centre of a big win against Yarraville. Craig (3-33 and 41 not) and Thorne (4-26) played key roles as the Seagulls ran out comfortable seven-wicket winners. Yarraville was all out for 158 after winning the toss and electing to bat despite a 71-run opening stand between captain Josh Hahnel and Brad Jones.

Williamstown bowler Jack Craig. Picture: Valeriu Campan

LIONS KEEP ROLLING

Coburg continued its strong one-day form, knocking off western powerhouse Werribee by 23 runs. Fresh off a century last weekend, Lions skipper Aaron Shellie continued his strong form with 41 from 38 balls, while partner in crime Aaron Ayre posted 68. Both hit seven boundaries and combined for a 79-run opening stand. Critically for Coburg, the runs continued to flow after the pair departed with Fletcher Stewart and Robbie O’Brien adding 37 and Zac Margariti an impressive 47 not out from 39 balls at the death. Werribee were 1-7 and 2-7 when Shellie and Will Dundon removed Fayzan Sathaar (7) and Shaun Dean (0) respectively then 3-20 when Nathan Taylor fell to Shellie as well. Josh Cowell steadied the Tigers’ ship with 48 but became Shellie’s third victim as he finished with 3-37. Dundon was the main destroyer with a super 5-30.

ALTONA HITS FORM

Altona now has back-to-back wins to its name and is shaping as a potential finals contender after the first month of the season. Daniel Mackenzie led his side to a vital win over Plenty Valley, who stunned Werribee a week earlier, with 3-48 before posting an impressive half-century at the top of the order. Connor Brown also posted a half-century for Altona as Fawwaz Sathaar’s power hitting (38 off 17) got his side over the line in the 44th over. Plenty Valley’s Javed Bolim was the game’s top scorer with his 62.

Amaya Gharat during his time at St Bernard’s, now starring at Preston. Picture: Stuart Milligan

BULLANTS BRING IVANHOE BACK TO EARTH

Fresh of a breakthrough win, Ivanhoe crashed back to earth in an eight-wicket loss to Preston at Preston on Saturday. The Bullants were dominant, skittling the Saints for 98 before wrapping up the win in 17 overs. Ameya Gharat starred with the bat, taking 5-31, while Vaib Deshpande (2-16) and skipper Kyle Walsh (2-15) got two each. Ivanhoe’s No.9 Jon Kuch provided the only resistance with the bat, scoring 36 runs. In reply, Tom Ramage (eight) missed out before Shakeel Ahmad (26), Deshpande (40 not out) and Luke Bramich (14 not out) made light work of the chase.

WICKS BOWL HOME

Marcus Stables took a superb 3-24 and Matt Doric (4-20) cleaned up the tail as Brunswick bowled itself to a 36-run victory over Taylors Lakes at Gillon Oval. Batting first, the Wicks posted 6-179, thanks largely to Daniel Rawson’s unbeaten 48 from 85 balls. Simon Hill, Ben Rowles, Stables and Ben Moss all made starts but got out in the 20s. With Taylors Lakes looking ominous at 4-90 it was Stables who turned the game with the big wickets of set batsmen Lachlan Marr (39) and Aamir Raza (33) as well as Marcus Just (two) to trigger a 3-27 collapse. Doric then finished the job, taking three quick wickets to wrap up the win.

Brunswick bowler Dan Houghton. Picture: Valeriu Campan

IMPORT KEEPS KEW PERFECT

Sam Pearce had a day out against Melton at MacPherson Park. The Welshman delivered with bat and ball and Kew made it four from four with a 60-run win. Pearce top-scored with 87 from 91 balls, hitting seven boundaries and a pair of sixes, before bamboozling the Lions with 5-29 from 6.4 overs. He capped an outstanding performance with a hat-trick, taking the final three wickets, to finish the match in style. Fellow spinner Jack Carroll finished with 3-15. Chris Hope was Melton’s best with the bat, making 37.

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CATS ON THE BOARD

A dominant bowling performance has helped secure Hoppers Crossing its first win of the season. The Cats rolled Strathmore for just 80 as Abbas Faiyaz and Kaushik Jagannathan took three wickets apiece. In response, they finished just one down to finally get their season on track.