Barwon Heads closed the gap on Anglesea when they chased down the Roos at RT Fuller Oval on Saturday.
Needing a total of 192 to win, the Seagulls batted patiently to reel in Anglesea despite some good bowling performances from the visitors.
The opening stand of Jaxon Mallett and Max Melzer took Barwon Heads to 67 before some excellent fielding saw Melzer run out for 43.
The run chase was well under way when Mallett fell for 38 in the 35th over with the Seagulls having racked up 94 runs for just two wickets.
Tom Beasley put in a mammoth effort with the ball for the Roos, bowling 31 overs straight and finishing with 6/77, but it wasn’t enough to hold off a determined home side that reached its target after 74 overs.
Seagulls captain-coach Daniel Donaldson, who made an important 36 runs in the middle order, said despite Anglesea’s modest total the week before and a very fast outfield his side had taken nothing for granted.
“We were pretty happy with restricting Anglesea to 191 last week after losing the toss, and they got off to a good start, they’re a very good batting unit,” Donaldson said.
“But we know that whatever score they put on the board, it’s never an easy run chase. They’ve got a formidable bowling attack and they’re very disciplined in the field. They’re relentless, desperate with the ball and desperate in the field.
“They can find a way to win no matter what, so we knew we were going to have our work cut out for us.”
The result puts the Seagulls equal on points with the Roos, with both sides only three points behind top side Armstrong Creek.
With only two rounds remaining Donaldson said he was focused on maintaining a “game-by-game mentality”.
“We’re not really looking too far forward to finals, we’ve still got two big games that we want to go out and win,” he said.
“There is room for improvement in all three facets of the game… and we’ll definitely be going away to do that.
“I suspect we’re going to come up against Armstrong Creek or Anglesea in four weeks’ time, so whoever that may be, we’re going to have to play out of our skins to beat them.”
JAN JUC successfully chased down Drysdale’s total of 211 after losing the toss in week one. Nick Hyden finished the day unbeaten on 71 runs for the Sharks, while opener Peter Buszard scored an important half-century. Josh Inglis was Drysdale’s best bowler with 4/45.
DESPITE a slow start to the innings, Armstrong Creek made 6/188 to defeat Queenscliff (8/186) and leapfrog Anglesea to claim top spot on the BPCA A1 ladder. Ben Norgrove had the Titans’ high score with 49, Matthew Kennedy finished with 42 not out and Tom Kidd took 3/38 for Queenscliff.
BARRABOOL had a comfortable victory against Ocean Grove at Ceres Reserve, eclipsing the Grubbers’ first innings total of 10/160 with 9/223. Archer Jacques made 55 not out after coming in at number nine for the home side, while Alex Man took 8/42 from his 22 overs with the ball.
