GULLY ON TOP
Round 5
By Steve Brown
Ferntree Gully remain at the top of the Reeves Shield ladder after dispatching last season’s finalist Eildon Park by 41 runs to complete round five. The new look young Blues outfit has bonded like cement and are taking on all before them. After bowlers Galvin and Handley dismissed the Panthers for 178, the Gully batted the day to finish 6/219 with Patrick Mastertoun coming of age with a fine 77. Former Upper Gully wicket keeper Darren Osbourne chipped in with 48 and Jayden Bradbury continued his good form with 40. The Blues face their biggest test next week against reigning premiers Johnson Park.
Knoxfield proved too strong for The Basin at Batterham Reserve. Defending 246, the Knights knocked over Clarke and Best early before The Basin recovered to 2/77 at the tea break. Josh Lee and Danny Rundle added 75 for the third wicket and were on track for a win before Lee was caught behind off Wilson for 39. From that point, the Knoxfield attack lead by Scott McKenzie 4/48 from 17 over’s and 15 year old Mitchell Perry (4/36) off 16 gained the momentum and all hope for the Bears was lost when Rundle holed out for a gutsy 79 giving the Knights victory by 64 runs.
Belgrave 5/330 had too many on the board for Mountain Gate who went down by 80 runs at the Belgrave Recreation Reserve. Only Trent Fitzgerald with 67 and Mitchell Goddard (91) got going with the bat before former Test player Dinusha Fernando grabbed 5/46 to go with his half century the week before.
Upwey Tecoma paid the price for not batting their allotted over’s on day one against Johnson Park who lost five wickets chasing 162. Steve Devenish top scored with 45 and Andrew Gottliebsen, receiving a promotion in the batting order, with 39, cruised to the win. Tigers off spinner Jake Evans took all five wickets to fall finishing with 5/40.
Knox Gardens 3/172 made light work of Monbulk, dismissed the previous week for 168. Match winner, Shannon Small with 83 and Josh Gregory 46 were the best performers for the Falcons.
Scores
Reeves Shield
Knoxfield 246 def The Basin 182 (Rundle 79 Lee 39 Perry 4/36 McKenzie 4/48)
Johnson Park 5/164 (S. Devenish 45 Gottliebsen 39 Evans 5/40) def Upwey Tecoma 162
Knox Gardens 3/172 (Small 83 Gregory 46) def Monbulk 168 (Cosstick 69 Emmett 36 Small 3/25)
Ferntree Gully 6/219 (Mastertoun 77 Osbourne 48 Bradbury 40 Caton-Robertson 3/76) def Eildon Park 178 (Morris 92 Galvin 5/66 Handley 3/30)
Belgrave 5/330 (Levell 138 Fernando 54 Hill 52) def Mt Gate 250 (Goddard 91 Fitzgerald 67 Fernando 5/46)
Decoite Shield
Auravale 6/265 def Footballers 256
Lysterfield 5/327 (Walsh 168* Brolic 52 Kulasena 48) def Upper Gully 8/324
Rowville 7/304 (Morsello 118 Bandanttke 56 Hill 76 Matthews 3/43) def St Johns Tecoma 132 (Brasher 31 Rogers 6/42 Hill 3/19) & 3/127 (Manning 30*)
South Belgrave 9/189 (D. Hart 38 Baker 45 Sutherland 51 Goodman 8/47) def Knox Boronia Churches 137 (Prendergast 38 Burley 5/38) & 5/58
Division 3
Eildon Park 8/180 (Gill 40 Woods 3/30) def Ferntree Gully 113 (Evans 45* Sinclair 4/25 Casey 4/34)
Knox Gardens 296 (Marget 104 Hawkes 47) def Monbulk 4/163
Upwey Tecoma 3/195 (Dobbie-Hayward 91 Lizza 76) def Johnson Park 185 (Reid 48 Vance 3/29 Lynch 3/44)
Mt Gate 296 (Hettiaratchchi 167 McDonald 30 Carnie 4/48) def Belgrave 8/291 (Wood 138)
Division 4
Lysterfield 9/273 (Birnie 6/99) def Upper Gully 233 (Bridle 49 Birnie 43 Begley 33)
South Belgrave 360 (Ray 128) def Knox City 8/132
Auravale 7/204 def Footballers 197
Rowville 192 (A Freeman 79, A Artner 36, T Perkins 3/21, D Robb 4/38) d St Johns Tecoma 9/124 (M Tierney 3/35, M Logan 3/18)
Division 5
Knoxfield 7/121 dec def Ferntree Gully 27 (Raab 6/11) & 4/216 (Parker 62 Lynch 53* O’Dowd 40)
Eildon Park9/190 def Lysterfield 178 (Walsh 67 McPherson 5/52 Ibrahim 3/30)
Knox Gardens 142 (McLean 36 Roleff 6/36) tied with Upper Gully 142 (Hart 50 Winters 30 Fisher 5/45 Lamby 4/16)
The Basin 9/263 (Edwards 54 Betka 59 Bunker 47) def Waverley Wanderers 252 (Pitman 6/136)
Division 6
Johnson Park 9/293 (Murphy 46 Barrington 79) def Knoxfield 9/204 (Plumridge 76 Bhitia 3/22)
Ferntree Gully 9/193 (Sharp 67* Stephens 58 Taylor 5/33) def Monbulk 187 (Clark 53 Taylor 35 VanDyk 3/17 Bakshi 3/11)
Upwey Tecoma 4/353 (Waters 103* McCarrick 73 Hayward 43 Tailby 42*) def Eildon Park 197 (Bowes 59 Edwards 45 Green 4/46 Waters 3/24)
Belgrave 5/198 (Wiseman 102*Smith 50) def The Basin 97 & 2/60
Division 7
Upwey Tecoma 123 (Gallop 3/8 Jones 3/32 Pitts 45) def Lysterfield 105 (Jones 34 Wood 5/7 Fisher 3/20)
Monbulk 9/272 (Williams 52 Badgery 42 Defina 35 Jamonts 31 T.J. Utting 31) def Eildon Park 258 (Downs 54 Forrester 43 Pollard 36 Patel 36)
Knox Gardens 4/181 (Potts 62 Christianson 44 Stuckey 31*) def Mt Gate 177 (Gough 48 Argus 46* Adams 3/14)
The Basin 8/192 def Knoxfield 183 (Kodi 73 Winters 4/60 Koster 3/26 Underhill 3/64)