Greenvale Kangaroos are set to make the finals in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association’s senior division.
Just a year after finishing on the bottom of the ladder, the Kangaroos are fourth on the ladder with one round remaining.
Going into this weekend’s clash with Yarraville Club at Footscray’s Hansen Reserve, the Kangaroos are 12.16 points ahead of fifth‐placed Tullamarine.
So close is the competition, that just 1.31 points separate the top four sides.
Kangaroos captain Jon Kent said the team had come a long way in the last 12 months.
“I was very confident when we picked up Tallan Wright and Peter Manser and having Jacob
Thompson and Andrew Le Page for the whole season that we would be a good team,” he said..
“Finals were the aim and if we are playing our best I think we can go a deep into the finals.
“We could still finish first, second, third or fourth.”
The Kangaroos accounted for St Bernard’s OC on Saturday making 199 themselves then bowling out St Bernard’s for 183.
Manser, who made 52 not out on day one of the match, was the star with the ball with 6‐71.
“We were a bowler short with Jacob Thompson in Adelaide for football,” Kent said. “Instead of running the risk with a sub with gave him two weeks off.
“Peter and Tallan bowled a lot of overs to get us the win”.
From the outside the Kangaroos second innings of 7‐99 wasn’t what they would have been hoping for but it was exactly what the coach and captain ordered.
“It didn’t matter how many wickets we lost, it was all about how many runs we made,” Kent said.
“We just went out there trying to flog it. In only 20 overs we got 99 runs . . . we were aiming for 100.
“It gives us valuable points and we’re only 20 runs behind third‐placed Doutta Stars.
The finals come a week early for the Kangaroos when they take on second‐placed Yarraville Club.
“We’re looking to put in a strong performance against them,” Kent said.
“It’s a very good ground with a fast pitch which we’ve never played on before. There’s a chance we could play them two weeks in a row.”
While the Kangaroos look set for finals, Tullamarine’s dreams look over after losing to Yarraville Club.
The Clubbers went into day two of the match with runs on the board after making a massive 7‐310 on day one.
Tullamarine was bowled out for 132, Tom Van Den Berg top‐scored with 49, before the Clubbers made 7‐168 in their second innings.
In north A1, it was heartbreak for Craigieburn as its finals hopes were all but ended.
Fifth‐placed Craigieburn needed a victory over fourth‐placed Merlynston Hadfield to close the gap between the two sides.
But chasing the Hawks’ 119, Craigieburn also finished on 119 before the Hawks made 2‐192 in their second innings to extend the gap between the two teams to almost 10 points.
In other games, Westmeadows (52 and 5‐129) lost to St Albans (249) while Jacana (95 and 84) was thrashed by Glenroy (4‐326).
