Harper Sercombe
Westmeadows remain within the Victorian Turf Cricket Association senior division finals hunt after defeating Yarraville Club on Saturday.
After winning the toss and batting last week, the Warriors did well, bowling the Clubbers out for just 190 after 58.3 overs.
This week, the Warriors were strong with the bat, however most of the runs were managed from the lower order.
From the top six batters, only captain-coach Donovan Pell, 50, and Geeth Alwis, 42, were amongst the run scorers.
“To play Yarraville Club away from home is always a daunting task, but after the position we put ourselves in at the end of last week, we were pretty hopeful going into this week that we would be able to try and capitalise on that,” Pell said.
“We always knew the better conditions were always going to be in the back half of the day. And we backed ourselves in with the bat and we clawed over the line in the end which was good.
“The wicket was pretty good and the outfield was pretty good. So we never thought the run rate was going to be an issue and we never batted with too much forward intent.
“In our last two games our lower order has made runs and they’re two games that we’ve won. Our seven, eight, nine, 10 have really pulled us over the line.
“We’ve won and only two of our top six have made runs really, to chase down a total of 190, with just myself and Geeth making runs is pretty good.”
While the Warriors are currently sitting in the middle of the ladder, finals are well within reach in the tight competition.
Just 16 points separate second placed Sydenham-Hillside and eighth placed Sunshine United.
“Our fixture was pretty heavy in the first half, we played Deer Park, Sydenham Hillside, Aberfeldie twice, so we always knew that our draw was going to be better in the back half of the year,” Pell said.
“So we’re pretty hopeful and optimistic now going into the back half now with four winnable games.
“The ladder is really close, we’re only one game off third at the moment, but it’s a very small comp and anything can happen.
“So you can’t count your chickens before they hatch, you also can’t get too ahead of yourself because if you lose a couple of games you’re always looking like you can go down the ladder pretty quickly.”
On the weekend, Westmeadows faces Keilor, who are currently just one spot below them on the ladder.
In other matches, Craigieburn lost outright to Sydenham-Hillside having conceded first innings points on day one of the match.
