East Belmont’s finals hopes hang by a thread after a nail-biting draw against North Geelong at Winter Reserve.
The Magpies were bowled out for 321 the previous week, with the Lions falling just eight runs short of a winning score with a wicket to spare.
Skipper Shane McNamara was the linchpin for the East Belmont run chase, belting 109 runs from 186 deliveries.
McNamara, who came in at 3/28, stabilised the Lions and provided the basis for three valuable partnerships.
Opener Danny Hegarty (32) stayed with his captain for more than 30 overs, with the pair adding 80 runs between them, while Lachlan Inglis (27) and Hayden McMahon (42) batted with McNamara for partnerships of 56 and 69 runs, respectively.
Dale Kerr was a key figure in the Magpie’s bowling attack with figures of 3/73, including the scalps of both James Lidgett (1) and James McMahon (0) in the third over of the innings.
Bailey Sykes took 2/35 in his 11 overs, including McNamara’s wicket, while Alistair McCann took the wickets of Hegarty and Lachlan Inglis, giving up just 41 runs in 14 overs. Tom Mathieson and Lachlan Hayes also contributed a wicket each.
McNamara said while the result was “disappointing” his team had given itself every chance.
“Chasing down 320, I’d say that’s a big score in any level of cricket,” he said.
“But I think if you look back at our numbers this year for batting, we’ve scored a lot of runs. The first time we were in Newtown (in round five) we got 280 chasing 290, we’ve chased down 330 in 60-odd overs against St Peter’s and we beat South Barwon chasing down close to 300.
“And then the match before last against Grovedale we fell 10 short chasing 290. So we know we can get big scores, we know how to chase. We just didn’t quite get to finish it off as we would have liked, to get the six points.”
McNamara said other results over the weekend meant the race for fourth spot was still wide open with three rounds of cricket remaining.
“If we were to win the last three then we won’t be far away, so we’re going to stay positive about it all,” he said.
“But we can’t go talking about the finals or the ladder; if you start doing that you lose focus on what’s right in front of you.
“The ladder doesn’t really say it, but I don’t think we’ve been that far away all year. This time last year we played in the grand final, so with the core group we all believe we can do it on our day.”
Matt Hewson
