Grovedale won a thrilling and high-scoring GCA 1sts encounter against St Joseph’s on Saturday.
A masterful 148 from 135 deliveries from skipper Jordan Moran set up what looked to be a comfortable win for Grovedale when it made 8/290 batting first.
Opener Kane Pozman made a fine 72 from 86 balls from a productive 151-run partnership with Moran.
Matt Tarbert kept things tight for Joeys with 2/41 from 10 overs.
Rather than dwell on the huge run chase, Joeys went about their mammoth task with enthusiasm.
Opener Andrew Casey made 85 from 93 balls and Andrew Hodgson constructed a brilliant 126 from 131.
With three runs needed from the final ball for a rousing victory, Joeys could manage just a bye, leaving Grovedale the victor by just one run.
Former Bellarine players Devlin Foott and Bailey Sykes each took 2/48 from their 10 overs for the Tigers.
East Belmont and Highton fought out another high-scoring game.
Highton batted first and made 5/256 James Gillard blasting 109 not out from 104 deliveries after openers Zac Wills (70) and Luke Daffy (42) paved the way.
Captain Shane McNamara then smacked his third ton of the season as East Belmont made the runs with seven wickets and 28 balls to spare.
McNamara’s 141 from 144 deliveries took his season’s tally to 424 at an average of 106.
Lachlan Inglis made 55 and shared a 136-run opening stand with his skipper.
South Barwon won a low-scoring encounter against Lara.
South Barwon was all out for 122 after being sent in.
A 40-run opening stand between Leigh Lorenzen (27) and Mathew Dawson (12) doesn’t seem like much, but was important in the context of the game.
Jaymee Guy and Dan Hughes each snared three wickets for Lara.
Clinton Place then stepped up for South Barwon taking 4/7 from eight overs, helping rout Lara for just 59.
North Geelong proved too good for Newtown & Chilwell, winning by 60 runs.
Sam Hall made 82 from 96 for North Geelong while Dale Kerr made an important 52 from 51 in the final total of 237.
The Two Blues struggled to get Magpies’ skipper Tom Mathieson away with the left-armer grabbing 4/11 from 10 immaculate overs and were all out for 167.
