Melton is within striking distance of top spot on the Sub District cricket ladder with just one home-and-away match to go.
The Lions completed a first-innings defeat of fellow north-west premiership contender Plenty Valley on Saturday to close the gap between them and Roxburgh Park Broadmeadows.
Melton is third on the table on 51 points, four behind ladder-leading Roxburgh Park Broadmeadows and level with Plenty Valley and Yarraville.
The Lions set up their latest victory on day one of the clash at MacPherson Park, dismissing Plenty Valley for an uncharacteristically meagre 61.
Melton had no trouble reaching the target, bringing up the win for the loss of seven wickets.
With the potential of an outright victory on offer, the Lions declared their first innings with a lead of 17.
Picture gallery: Day 1 Melton v Plenty Valley
Searching for quick wickets, the Melton bowlers delivered, dismissing Plenty Valley opener Kamalesh Murugsan for just three.
But the Bats’ middle order was intent on ensuring there would be no repeat of its first-innings collapse.
The combination of Sean Ayres, Michael Sheedy, Andrew Bennett and Matthew Hunter combined for 136 second-innings runs to snuff out any chance of a Melton outright.
The round 12 results have made an already tight VSDCA ladder even more congested.
While there isn’t much separating Melton, Plenty Valley and Yarraville, Altona is also right in the mix, only another three points behind in fifth place.
Werribee and Balwyn are fighting over the last of the six finals places.
In the season’s final round this weekend, Melton will take on seventh-placed Balwyn.
VSDCA: Also in round 12
Altona was unable to complete an outright win against Sunshine at Dempster Park.
The A’s dominated day one of the match, dismissing Sunshine for just 38 in its first innings.
That target was quickly chased down, with Altona declaring at stumps with a 64-run lead.
The Crows made a much better effort with the bat the second time around to prevent outright defeat.
Led by a brilliant 85 from Sam Magnano and 57 from Troy Stone, Sunshine battled to 6-189 by the close.
Yarraville (125 and 5-53) got the better of Williamstown (62); Kew (8-300) defeated Coburg (206); Roxburgh Park Broadmeadows (8-259) was too good for Werribee (220); and Brunswick (7-280) beat Ivanhoe (9-277).
