By Tara Murray
Melton is keeping the pressure on the top six teams as it tries to remain in finals contention in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association east-west competition.
Melton has shown some good signs in recent matches, including a win against third placed Williamstown, to show that they can’t be ruled out of the finals equation.
After a solid victory against Endeavour Hills on Saturday, they now sit three points outside the top six. Lions director of coaching Anthony Gale said it was good performance.
“We were in a similar position against Altona, before Christmas, and we couldn’t get the job done,” he said. “This time we were able to get the win, which was really good.”
Sent in, Endeavour Hills were bowled out for 170 in the final over.
Heath Fleetwood took 3-23 off his five overs, as six bowlers took wicket.
Gale said like they have all season, the Lions’ bowling unit had performed well.
It comes despite being without skipper and star bowler Brad Jones for a second successive match, having been suspended for three matches for an on-field indiscretion.
“Heath has come up for the two one-dayers and has picked up a few wickets,” he said.
“Collectively, as a group the bowlers have been playing really well and consistently. It was another strong performance.”
Gale said as long as they batted their overs and had some wickets in hand, that they were confident that they could chase the runs down.
He was right, as they finished 6-171 with 10 balls remaining.
For most of the innings the Lions were in control, before losing 3-11 to go from 3-138 to 6-149.
They wouldn’t lose another wicket. Gale said stand-in skipper Nathan Taylor was the key.
“We lost a couple of wickets including an established batsman,” he said.
“The key was Nathan. He has batted well the last few rounds. He has scores between 30 and 50 in six of his eight matches, he’s getting starts which is good.
“He batted out the innings and got the job done.”
Taylor finished 52 not out, with Matthew Stead (40) and Ben MacRae (38) also making solid contributions.
Melton now sits eighth on the ladder with their season well and truly alive.
Gale said the next couple of rounds would have a big impact on whether they made finals or not.
“The win keeps our season alive,” he said. “If we can string a couple of games together, we’ll be in a good spot.
“Snag a couple of wins and all of a sudden we’re back in the top six.”
The Lions second XI had a good win.
Gale, who made 44 in the win, said they were in a similar position to the top side, with the next couple of weeks to define their season.
The thirds and fourths were washed out on Saturday
