Roxburgh Park Broadmeadows suffered its first setback of the Sub-District cricket season on Saturday, a seven-wicket loss to Melton Lions.
The Falcons struggled with wet conditions in the north-west competition, the players being forced to leave the oval as showers fell intermittently.
PICTURE GALLERY: Melton v Roxburgh Park
And with their early-season batting woes continuing, the Falcons were bowled out for 92.
After losing a couple of early wickets, the Lions easily chased down the total to reach 3-93.
Falcons captain-coach Mitch Johnstone said it was disappointing for his side to again fail with the bat, but he thought the conditions played a major part.
“We were sent in to bat thinking we had 37 overs in our innings,” Johnstone said.
“In the end we had only 26 overs and if we’d known that, we wouldn’t have batted so conservatively.
“We went off the field [for rain delays] four times when we were batting and the batsmen had to get reset each time.”
The Falcons bowlers again stood up, but couldn’t get the necessary wickets.
“We started okay and got a couple of scalps, but we were always up against it,” Johnstone said.
“It shows we still have a way to go and a bit of a reality check now being 2-1.
“The next few games will show where we are.”
After fielding the same side for the first three rounds, the Falcons will have some changes in the next few weeks.
“The Vanuatu boys [Patrick Matautaava and Simpson Obed] have qualifying matches for the T20 World Cup, so we’ll be a little thin compared to our normal side,” Johnstone said.
“We’re looking at bringing in a younger player, but won’t make a decision on what sort of player until the last minute.”
While the Falcons couldn’t keep their winning record intact, Plenty Valley remains the only undefeated team in the competition after an easy win against Ivanhoe.
Sent in, Ivanhoe could manage only 6-97 off 32.3 overs.
Joshua Durrant and Simon Bray took two wickets each for the Bats.
Sean Ayres and Michael Sheedy then made batting look easy as both continued where they left off in round two.
Ayres contributed 55 not out, while Sheedy made 35 as they guided the Bats to 1-100.
Both are among the top six for runs scored in the opening three rounds of the north-west competition.
This week the Bats face Altona in Altona, while the Falcons host Williamstown.
