By Tara Murray
Melton has grabbed a much-needed win in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association south-west competition.
After dropping two straight games, the Lions looked at the game with Oakleigh and next week’s game against Caulfield as crucial.
Against Oakleigh, the Lions made a move back towards their best cricket with a dominant win.
Lions playing coach Nathan Geisler said the performance was a step up from the previous two rounds.
“The last two games, we’ve got into winnable positions, before we lost our way,” he said.
“We knew they are a good side and we were in a dominant position all day.”
The Lions bowled Oakleigh out for 80 – an effort Geisler said the club would take every day of the week.
With the bat, the Lions had little trouble getting the runs, finishing 2-82.
“We won the toss and the conditions suited us,” he said. “We put them under pressure straight away and continued on from there.
“To pass the score two down was good as well.”
The Lions’ bowlers shared the job around with Ash Sweet taking three wickets and Brad Jones, Jake Charge and Geisler taking two each.
Anthony Gale continued his good form by top scoring with 39. Gale, who the Lions planned to play in the second XI this season, is the side’s top scorer in the top grade this season.
Geisler said they would continue to take it week to week in terms of which side Gale would play in.
“Butch keeps doing his job,” he said. “One of our Sri Lankan imports has missed the last couple of games with an eye issue and someone else was missing on Saturday.
“Butch just continues to fill a role. He’ll do whatever is best for the club and just loves playing cricket … he’s making it hard for selectors [to not select him in the first XI].”
Ben MacRae finished 27 not out.
The win moves the Lions to 2-2 and seventh on the ladder. They are one of four teams with the same points.
Despite the comprehensive win, Geisler said the Lions were still not at their best. He said they dropped a couple of catches and had at least another level of improvement in them.
The Lions will have to be on their game this weekend when they take on Caulfield in a Saturday-Sunday match at Caulfield.
Geisler knows the match is a vital one.
“It’ll give us an indication of where we are at,” he said.
MORE VSDCA NEWS
www.starweekly.com.au/sports/all-round-effort-delivers-altonas-first-win/
www.starweekly.com.au/sports/bowlers-propel-cats-to-victory/
www.starweekly.com.au/sports/taylors-lakes-learns-the-hard-way/
