By Marc McGowan
IN THE duel of the round, Springvale South has taken first-day honours against fellow undefeated side Narre Warren in round three turf-one action at Sweeney Reserve.
Springvale South comfortably moved to 1/68, but John Simpson (6/40) exploded into the contest as Springvale lost 5/0.
Jason Quirk (34) steadied the ship and helped guide his side to a competitive 145.
Narre Warren was on the back foot immediately and lost three wickets before reaching double figures and stumbling to 6/47 at stumps.
The damage was done by the unchanged duo of Danny Law (3/25) and Bobby Gray (3/19), who completed the 27 overs until the end of the first day’s play.
@BT Sub Sport News:North Dandenong v Cranbourne
North Dandenong is primed to maintain its undefeated status after a devastating spell of bowling from its opening bowlers against Cranbourne in the teams’ round three turf-one encounter at Lois Twohig Reserve.
Cranbourne would have been relatively pleased to knock over the North Dandenong line-up for 135 and received an even contribution from its bowlers, but its batsmen were clearly not prepared for the bowling onslaught.
Stuart Mack (4/19) and Paul Court (3/37) roared through the brittle Cranbourne side, which never recovered and was teetering at 8/66 at stumps.
@BT Sub Sport News:Doveton v Berwick
It was always going to be a mismatch, but Berwick has made a mockery of the Doveton bowlers in its round three Turf One game at Pargeter Reserve.
Berwick has steamrolled its opponents this season and Sunday was no different, as its batsmen defied the tough conditions to post 303 from the team’s allocated 80 overs.
Dave Hampton (103) announced himself to the season after a relatively quiet start and shared a 147-run alliance with the in-form Ash Henry (66).
The Doveton bowlers were workmanlike, Bradley Polson the best with 3/80, but he proved to be expensive as the figures came off only 21 overs.
@BT Sub Sport News:Springvale South v Hampton Park
Hampton Park is staring down the barrel of its first defeat of the season against Springvale South in round three turf-two play at Alex Nelson Reserve.
Springvale South’s first innings of 144 was bankrolled by another strong effort from Gregory Scott (61), who received solid support from Graeme Rainer (27) and Kevin Murphy (22).
Matthew Bartlett was the bowling star with an incredible spell of 3/5 off seven overs.
The 144 looked an increasingly competitive total as the Hampton Park innings began and sputtered to 5/58 at stumps, with only one batsman providing any resistance.
That came from the consistent Bevan Bell (28), but he too was forced back to the pavilion after retiring hurt.
The wickets were shared between the four bowlers with Darren Arter (2/11) the only multiple wicket-taker.
@BT Sub Sport News:Maranatha Methodist v Fountain Gate
Maranatha Methodist has continued its strong start to the season with Fountain Gate the latest to feel its wrath in round-three turf-two action at Strathaird Reserve.
Fountain Gate batted first and struggled to 123 with Bradley Francis (44) continuing to be his side’s saviour.
Youngster Shane Goldfinch (4/21) had his best bowling performance of the year, but he had plenty of support from his fellow bowlers.
Maranatha Methodist made an inauspicious start to its innings with Scott Mather (2/39) pocketing the first two wickets and Nicholas Scanlon chiming in with another (2/27) to restrict the team to 3/18.
Nathan Monk (32) steadied the ship somewhat, and captain Andrew Cooper (23) provided support as Maranatha Methodist stumbled past the Fountain Gate total and found itself at 8/127 at the end of play.
Colin Stott (3/22) picked up his first wickets of the season and was the pick of the bowlers.
@BT Sub Sport News:St Brigids-St Louis v HSD
HSD looks set for its first victory of the season against St Brigids-St Louis in their round-three turf-two contest at Bondi Oval.
Michael Davies (136) was outstanding for HSD and was pivotal in his side reaching 9/262.
Benjamin Doran (46) and Robert Davies (35) were also handy contributors and helped their side from a perilous 2/19.
The early damage came from Maurice Baker (3/27), and Simon Ruthven (3/35) shot out Michael Davies and took a couple of late wickets before HSD declared.
The declaration was justified, as Brett Lewis (1/4) managed to grab a late wicket to leave St Brigids-St Louis at 1/12 at stumps and a long way from the HSD score.
@BT Sub Sport News:Berwick v Hallam-Kalora Park
Hallam-Kalora Park has posted an extremely competitive total in its round-three turf-two match against Berwick at Arch Brown Reserve.
It had batting contributors aplenty with John Hammond (71) and Steven Chapman (56) headlining a strong effort, as Hallam-Kalora Park reached 9/288 at the end of its allocated 80 overs.
Paul Gramc (4/62) and Michael Wallace (4/65) were the best of the Berwick bowlers.
Berwick is yet to concede any points this season and will still be confident of chasing down the formidable total when it hits the field this weekend.
@BT Sub Sport News:North Dandenong v Narre North
Narre North is in the box seat against North Dandenong in the teams’ round-three turf-four encounter at Warner Reserve.
Tayfun Akin (89) was largely responsible for Narre North’s 187, but received good support from Jason Farmer (36) and number nine batsman Robert Calvert (29).
Under-17 player Yuri Ryaboshapka (4/50) was the pick of the bowlers, with three others picking up two wickets apiece.
The chase did not start well and North Dandenong lost Geoff O’Neill (5) and Stefan De Silva (3) on its way to 2/18 at stumps.
