By Tara Murray
It was a bittersweet win for Bellbridge in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association Evans-Clark Shield on Saturday.
It was a dominant performance by the Bears against Laverton with the side easily claiming the points.
For the Bears, it was a slight bit of disappointment after falling two wickets short of claiming an outright win which would have pushed them further up the ladder.
Bears captain Dillon Hinge said there were more positives out of the game than negatives.
“It was good to get over the line, but a little bittersweet as it was a good win but we didn’t get the outright win as well which hurts.”
The Bears made 231 on day one of the match with Hinge top scoring with 98.
He said the first focus on day two was to make sure that they secured the win.
They needed just 37.2 overs to bowl Laverton out for 60.
James Lake, Andrew Wilks and Christopher Armstrong took three wickets each.
Not surprisingly the Bears sent Laverton straight back in.
“We created enough chances to get the outright,” Hinge said. “We didn’t take enough in the end.
“Our bowlers toiled away in pretty hot conditions and we let them down in the field. You can’t dwell on one or two errors, when there were 18 positives out of the game.”
Laverton finished its second innings at 8-101.
James Lake, Colin Weller and Henro Dias took two wickets each for the Bears.
Despite the win, the Bears slipped outside the top four after East Coburg claimed an outright win against Roxburgh Park.
Hinge said they had put themselves in a good position to be in the mix come finals time.
This week they face bottom side St Andrew’s Footscray in a one-dayer.
“It’s a must win for us,” he said. “With one day cricket it’s not always the better side that gets the win, it’s the team that performs on the day.
“We respect St Andrew’s and won’t take them lightly.”
It was a good Saturday for the Bears, with all four men’s sides getting wins on Saturday.
“It was a terrific performance and a lot of hard work has been done behind the scenes at training,” Hinge said.
In other matches, Werribee Centrals upset top side Sunshine YCW.
After making 249 on day one, the Centurions bowled the Cougars out for 200.
Jacob Russell took four wickets for the Centurions.
the Centurions sit in seventh spot, 10 points outside the top four.
In the Roy Picone Shield, Point Cook and Point Cook Centrals both had wins.
Defending 177, Point Cook was able to bowl Gellibrand out for 132.
Point Cook Centrals moved to the top of the ladder with a win against Caroline Springs.
After making 110, the Sharks bowled the Falcons out for 81. The Sharks were 2-52 in their second innings.
In the Russell Pollock Shield, Wyndham Vale lost to Barkly St Uniting outright.
