By Tara Murray
Lalor Stars claimed a second straight vital win to cement their spot among the finals contenders in the Diamond Valley Cricket Association’s Money Shield.
With the top five sides equal on points heading into the weekend’s one-dayers, every match will have an impact on the finals make-up.
Having been the team to miss out on finals last season, Lalor Stars’ Steve Kemp said there was plenty of motivation to make sure it didn’t happen again.
“We’ve got a few players coming back and have a strong team,” he said.
“We’re confident we can get there.”
After beating one of the lower sides last week, the Stars faced Montmorency, one of the other four teams equal on points.
The Stars set the game up with the bat, making 8-237 from their overs.
Kemp said it was the best batting performance by the side for the season.
“We batted really well,” he said. “We picked the right areas and we picked the bowlers we wanted to target.”
Aaron Amos top scored for a second successive week, making 87.
Kemp said Amos wanted to make an impact with the bat, as he couldn’t bowl at the moment. “He’s not allowed to bowl due to an illegal action,” he said.
“He’s really disappointed that he can’t bowl. He’s put it on himself to make sure he makes runs when he can.
“He scores at a quick rate and when he scores, we usually make a big score.
“He opened the batting last week and batted three this week, we’re finding a spot for him in the top order.”
Kemp said one of their strengths was that they had a flexible side and they were starting to settle on their best outfit. Montmorency started well in its chase, but fell short, making 9-176.
“They matched the run rate from the start,” Kemp said.
“They lost a couple of wickets and a few young kids came in and it was hard to make eight runs an over. “Once it got to 10 runs an over, it was too much for them.”
Having started the back half of the season in a good way, Kemp knows they can’t take the foot off the pedal. He said every match was do or die.
Lalor Stars sit third, one of three teams on 36 points.
The following two teams are on 30 points.
In other results, Mill Park slipped further behind the top sides, losing to Banyule.
The Tigers managed to make 109 in reply to Banyule’s 8-199.
Mill Park sits six points outside the top four.Old Paradians suffered a loss to Research Eltham Collegians.
The Wolves were bowled out for 130, with the Collegians finishing 7-132 in reply.
Mernda defeated Lower Plenty. The Demons hit the winning runs eight wickets down, in reply to 9-133.
Bundoora United moved to top spot with victory against Eltham on Sunday.
Playing their traditional Australia Day game, the Bulldogs made 5-200 from their overs.
Eltham was restricted to 9-101 in reply.
