North Geelong belt East Belmont by 196 runs in GCA1 grand final rematch
North Geelong has crushed East Belmont by 196 runs – skittling the Lions for just 66 – as Grovedale maintained its position at the top of the GCA1 first grade ladder.
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North Geelong flexed its imposing muscle drawing on a raft of exquisitely gifted players to contribute to a crushing 196-run defeat of East Belmont, to grab the GCA1 Round 4 headlines.
From a blistering 49-ball 61 by Sam Hall, an electrifying 74-ball 70 from Phil Visser through to a more measured 48 off the bat of Ned Cooper, the Magpies held all the aces as they smashed a commanding 5-262 from their 50 overs.
“We obviously got off to a flyer with Sammy Hall setting a real good foundation at the top,” an elated Dale Kerr said post-game.
“East changed it up a little bit through the middle overs with their use of the slower bowlers and spin, and while that slowed us up a bit, that really strong base early on set us up for a good score.”
North’s uncompromising attack continued to the final overs of its innings with Jordan Rossi and Alistair McCann finishing unbeaten with 33 and 23, respectively.
Zak Tribe toiled to be the Lions’ best performed bowler with 2-36.
Meanwhile, with Kerr in irrepressible form with the new ball, East’s response started disastrously and its innings never recovered.
The newly anointed co-coach generated genuine pace and elicited movement off the Osborne Park track to rip the heart out of the Lions top order with 4-29.
“I was aiming to hit those good areas, finding that line and length that all bowlers do and was able to get a few wickets,” Kerr said.
“Everyone played their role, creating pressure with the ball, it was handy that we bowled as a really tight group.
“Bailey Sykes was bowling in tandem with me and he hardly leaked any runs, which obviously then created a lot of pressure, allowing me to grab a few wickets.”
Sykes finished with 1-16 from his eight overs while towering finger spinner McCann swept the tail with 3-6.
“Once we got a couple of early wickets, we worked really hard as a team to put the foot down and send a strong message to the rest of the competition,” Kerr said.
“Getting them out for just 66, did make for an impressive win in the end.”
South Barwon 205 defeated St Joseph’s 182
A brilliant run-a-ball 87 from skipper Nick Butters spearheaded South Barwon’s breakthrough win of the season, a 23-run defeat of St Joseph’s at Zampatti Oval.
“We know how important these one-day games are going to be, and while we certainly haven’t started the way we would have liked, we’re really pleased to get the win as St Joseph’s have been playing some pretty good cricket this season,” Butters said.
Batting four, Butters hammered four sixes and nine fours in his authoritative knock, finding support from English import Sam Ellis (30) and opener Andy Ross (23), as the Swans fought to combat Joeys’ standouts Ryan Simmonds (4-44) and new-ball tearaway Tom Smith (3-25).
“Personally, it was disappointing to miss the first game, so it was good to perform; I sort of felt like I owed the guys a bit,” Butters said.
“I was pretty keen to go on with it a bit, as I’ve been pushing the guys in the top six to go on and get that 70 or 80-plus; so, it was really nice to lead from the front.”
Despite a number of double-figure starts, the Joeys’ response was lacking for contributors to go with a neatly crafted 88-ball 52 from Ryan Simmonds, as the Swans shared the bowling honours.
Butters was among four players snaring multiple wickets with 2-25, although he was quick to praise the bowling cartel.
“We’ve been really pleased with what Cam Egan (2-31) has brought to the club; he’s been our best bowler nearly every week,” he said.
“We were also able to bring Sydney Ray (2-32) up from the twos and he just looked like he’d been playing ones for the last couple of seasons, he didn’t miss a beat, while young Taj Hinkley (2-27) was another to stand up.”
Highton 216 defeated St Peter’s 158
An unbeaten 49 from captain Nathan McCoach was pivotal to Highton’s defeat of St Peter’s after the Saints looked to have the Heat on the ropes at 7-135.
McCoach combined with Errol Burns (27 not out) in an unbeaten 81-run eighth wicket stand after Josh Sorgiovanni (3-51) and Luke Ford (2-25) troubled all batsmen, bar exquisitely talented Englishman Greg Willows, whose 68 came from just 61 balls.
Hampered by a hamstring injury to crack opener Brad McMaster, the Walker Oval tenants were strangled by the suffocatingly tight Highton bowlers with Fionn Neeson (3-28) and Burns (2-32) leading the way.
St Peter’s skipper Luke Ford headed his team’s scoring with an undefeated 48.
Grovedale 4-144 defeated Newtown & Chilwell 143
Grovedale made light work of the Two Blues 143, winning by six wickets with 14 overs to spare.
Only Tyson Windus (43) and Chay Deary (39) performed with the bat for the Combine as seamer Luke Guest (3-12), along with spinners Rohan Smith (3-41) and Nathan Berry (2-30) utilised the wicket to their advantage to trouble the Queens Park residents.
Missing injured skipper Dylan Hodge, Newtown & Chilwell struggled to make inroads with the ball as Jordan Moran (40 not out), Kane Pozman (37) and youngster Corey Paull (34) got among the runs to steer the Tigers to the top of the GCA1 table.
Sam Allen (2-21) and Noah Guida (2-20) were the Two Blues best with the ball.
Originally published as North Geelong belt East Belmont by 196 runs in GCA1 grand final rematch
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