St Peters is on the cusp of first-innings points after a magnificent spell of seam bowling from James Stokes.
Stokes took 7/42 from 19 overs to have Lara all out for 113 after being 1/58 on the first day of Geelong Cricket Association Division 1 round 6 on Saturday.
Lara had few answers for the paceman’s unnerving accuracy and lost 9/55 as Stokes cut a swathe through the batting order.
Andrew Hughes (35) and Vishesh Malhotra (25) got the Cats off to a reasonable start, with Stokes sending down 19 overs in a row before being rested with the score at 8/97.
St Peters is sitting comfortably at 1/96 in reply with Oliver Trewin unbeaten on 56.
St Joseph’s reached 6/285 at stumps against Grovedale.
Andrew Casey (87) and Josh Appleford (81) shared a 162-run opening stand and Jonathan Casey made 58.
Grovedale’s attack toiled hard without much reward with quick Sam Coutts and leg-spinner Nathan Berry each claiming two wickets.
North Geelong is poised for victory, needing a further 46 runs with nine wickets intact.
The Swans were 5/17 at one stage with pacemen Dale Kerr (3/33) and Angus Cranny (2/9) making early inroads while left-armers Tom Mathieson (3/33) and Alistair McCann (2/12) were productive with seam and spin respectively.
Displaying grit and concentration, Clay Mulgrew delivered his best knock as a Swan, carrying his bat for an unbeaten 77 from 178 deliveries since crossing from Armstrong Creek in the off-season.
In reply, the Magpies will resume at 1/72 with Phil Visser looking ominous on 43 and Ned Cooper on 21.
East Belmont claimed day one honours against Newtown & Chilwell, although the result is far from decided.
Pat McKenna top scored for the Two Blues with 64 and Tyson Windus made 58. Newtown & Chilwell was all out for 215 in the 54th over, which gave East Belmont a decent chunk of time to make inroads into the run chase.
Spinner Lachlan Molyneux bowled superbly, taking 4/53 from 20.4 overs and new-ball pair Dylan Moroney and Jack Jenkins each took three wickets.
In reply, the in-form Shane McNamara wasn’t just playing for stumps with 43 from 53 balls and James Lidgett is still there on 32 with East Belmont well placed at 2/99.
Barwon Heads’ new-ball pair Darcy Hewitt and Sema Kamea ripped through Jan Juc’s top order and spearheaded a big win in round 6 of Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association’s A1 Grade.
Chasing 292 for victory, Jan Juc lost its first three wickets without a run on the board. Hewitt (4/25) struck with the first and third balls of the innings and Kamea (2/19) also got a wicket in his opening set of six.
At 5/12 with the game pretty much out of reach, Nick Hyden and Josh Penton decided to make the Heads earn their win and put a price on their wickets.
Penton made 14, but from 116 balls, and Hyden was there at the end on 79 from 213. The Sharks batted their 75 overs to show some pride and ended at 8/134 with No 10 Kai Powers unbeaten on 19 from 42 balls.
After going through the first three rounds winless, Queenscliff is now in the top four after a good win against Anglesea.
Chasing 176, Anglesea didn’t get close, being all out for 97 with Patrick Mileto (4/31 from 18.3 overs), Jordan Monahan (4/41 from 29) and Tom Kidd (2/15 from 10) the only bowlers needed for the Coutas.
Armstrong Creek turned a tricky run chase into a relatively easy win against Drysdale. Resuming at 1/14 in pursuit of 172, nightwatchman Lachie Mulgrew only made 4, but took the shine off the ball in his 74-delivery stay at the crease.
It allowed Adam Trevean (58), Ben Norgrove (62 not out) and Ben Robertson (22 not out) to score runs at the other end and the Titans got there with seven wickets in hand.
Barrabool timed its run chase of 201 to perfection, getting there with five wickets and a few overs to spare against Inverleigh.
Kane Pickering (80) hit top form and Michael Kelson (78 not out) played a fine leader’s knock for the Bulls and while no Inverleigh bowler took more than one wicket, they all toiled hard, especially left-arm seamer Daniel Midolo (1/60 from 24.3 overs).
