Tara Murray
Melton will reassess its Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association east-west goals over the Christmas break, having already matched its pre-season goal.
Coming off a win less season, the Lions had set the target of winning three matches this season as the growth continued at the club.
The side has already achieved that, winning a second successive match on Saturday, beating Taylors Lakes.
Coach Mitchell Stephens said they were thrilled with how things were going.at this part of the season.
“We got two in a row, it’s the first time that’s happened in a few years,” he said.
“It’s going through all the sides. All of our sides have won matches and our thirds and fourths are both in the top four.
“All I can ask for is the group to buy into what myself and Joel [Mitchener] are doing and the boys are buying in.
“There is a really good attitude across the whole club.”
Stephens said on Saturday they were confident of beating Taylors Lakes, which was coming off its first win of the season.
He said they have a period of matches against sides near them on the ladder, with the boys up for the challenge.
On Saturday against Taylors Lakes, in the battle of the Lions, Melton won the toss and elected to bat.
Melton made 8-212 from its 45 overs. Stephens said they were starting to find some consistency with the bat.
“We’re batting lots of time and Ben [MacRae] and Jason [Hibbert] have done that for us all season,” he said.
“We’re starting to put some good scores on the board. It was a really hard wicket to get in on.
“It was a good score, but we didn’t finish it off. We left 20 to 30 runs out there.”
Hibbert top scored with 79, while MacRae made 77.
Taylors Lakes started well and was in front at 0-68. It all started to go wrong, with Taylors Lakes restricted to 177.
Stephens said they had started to bowl really well in partnerships and that along with their fielding had really improved.
“They got away from us early,” he said. “We got a couple of wickets and were holding our chances.
“In round one against Werribee we dropped four or five catches. We set a really high standard of fielding on Saturday, it’s something we’ve been working on.”
Andrew Reid-Dick took three wickets for Melton.
Melton sits in 11th spot as the competition breaks for Christmas.
Stephens said they would reassess their goals in the break, having already exceeded expectations.
“We’ll get away for a week or two and then regroup just before we start the next block,” he said.
“We’ll come back stronger.”
Werribee, Altona, Croydon, Spotswood, Mt Waverley, Box Hill and Noble Park were the other winners on Saturday.
