Endeavour Hills youngster Matthew Aslett was part of another last-gasp triumph on the weekend.By Marc McGowan
ENDEAVOUR Hills remains in the Victorian Sub District Cricket finals race after an action-packed one-wicket victory over Melton at MacPherson Park on the weekend.
In an amazing encounter, Hills stars Matthew Hutchinson (5/20 from 10.2 overs) and Simon Black (4/17 from 10 overs) bowled unchanged to dismiss the Lions for a paltry 45.
Not one Melton batsman reached double figures, with the 12 sundries the highest number on the scorecard.
Hutchinson’s and Black’s stunning displays drew high praise from Endeavour Hills captain-coach Ben Maroney.
“To tell you the truth, the pitch wasn’t that bad,” he said.
“Simon Black and Matty Hutchinson were outstanding and not one of their wickets fell to the pitch.
“It was very humid and muggy on Saturday and I’ve never seen the boys swing the ball that much.”
After such a brilliant start to the contest, the Hills entered its innings full of confidence, but soon found itself in trouble.
The Lions’ opening attack was similarly destructive, reducing Endeavour Hills to 5/16, with Heath Pritchard (3/28 from 16 overs) doing the bulk of the damage.
Facing a stunning demise, the Hills struggled on, but despite improving slightly it found itself at 9/41.
Even that total flattered Endeavour Hills, with only gloveman Jason Williams (14) having any sort of impact.
Fortunately, Hutchinson was not content with his bowling efforts and, together with all-rounder prospect Matthew Aslett, passed Melton and went even further.
The former was finally out for 30, but not before taking the Hills to 78.
Pritchard’s partner-in-crime James Wheelahan (4/21 from 15 overs) produced the best figures.
Aslett was the other story of the match, according to Maroney.
“Matty Aslett this year – for a 16-year-old kid in the ones – has been outstanding,” he said.
“He’s batted at number-11 and come in against Mount Waverley early in the year and got us the tie then against Noble Park he got us over the line with a boundary.
“Then he’s come in this week, with us needing five to win and done it again.
“He’s an outstanding young fella, who has plenty of time with the bat and in a couple of years he’ll be in the top order.”
Despite restricting the Lions to 1/29 in their second innings by stumps on Saturday, Endeavour Hills was unable to push for outright points.
Melton conjured up a stoic day-two showing before declaring at 7/194 to have a crack at an outright result itself.
But although the Hills stumbled again – wobbling at 4/32 at one stage – it managed to hang in and finish at 6/74.
The game still leaves Endeavour Hills 10 points behind Mount Waverley for a coveted top-four spot and with a mammoth task to come.
The Hills locks horns with unbeaten Williamstown at Sydney Pargeter Reserve on Saturday from 1pm in a fixture no-one expects it to win.
After that high pressure atmosphere, Endeavour Hills matches up with winless Sunshine at the same venue from 12.30pm on Sunday in a replay of their washed out round seven showdown.
