By Tom Watson
After a washout the week before, the Monbulk first eleven fronted up to Silvan to take on cellar dwellers Mountain Gate.
Batting first, Shane Cosstick added to his climbing run tally with a well-struck 30 before Monbulk was at the crossroads at 4/120.
Enter the experienced pair of Jason Fraser (61) and Daniel Clark (33) who stepped up the scoring before a late surged pushed the score to 192.
Mountain Gate got off to a flyer, sitting at 1/70 off 10 overs.
Enter the legend Jason Fraser again, who took a few quick wickets to snuff out the resistance with Chris Martin.
Braden Taeuber cleaned up the tail to finish with 4/41.
Mountain Gate managed 156, enabling Monbulk to hold their spot in second place.
The twos were on the road to Mountain Gate and bowled first.
Young guns Josh Spencer and Joel Wensley made early inroads with two wickets each, while old hand Brian Martin did the damage to the middle order with two wickets also.
Not to be outdone, Josh Spencer (4/26) demanded the ball in order to finish off the tail with another two wickets.
Chasing 106, skipper Brian Martin struck yet another 50 (53) to ensure there were no twist in the tail, with the twos coasting home by five wickets.
In the thirds, Liam Mackin struck a quick-fire 62 to set up a challenging total of 184 for Johnson Park to chase.
It proved to be too much, as they only managed 165, with wickets shared.
In juniors, Jett Bolton (26) and Will Copelin (21) helped set a target of 6/126 for the under- 16s.
Johnson Park managed 2/140, with Hamish Strathairn (1/4) the pick of the bowlers.
In the under-14s, Mazenod (5/121) just got over the line against Monbulk/Olinda (6/116).
For the Hawks, Alex McDonald made 25*, with support from Camden McLean (19) and Josh Davis (15).
Taking wickets were Matt Abrahams 2/16 and Hamish Fraser 1/14.
In the Friday night comps, Monbulk took on Belgrave and set the field alight with their fielding, taking two catches and getting three run-outs.
Todd Mackay (1/28) and Logan McDonald (1/11) took the wickets, with Belgrave finishing on 5/108.
The boys set up a great run chase, keeping wickets in hand and having a swing later.
Todd Mackay (21*) was in the action again, with Jacob Defina (11) and Logan McDonald (45*) getting the job done to finish on 2/125.
The under-12s batted and made 3/108 (Rylan Kay 26*, Archie Hilton-Stewart 22*) and restricted Olinda to 0/80 to get the win.
The Fast 9s again got the win, making 8/94 (Ethan Knight 22*, Kit Sutton 24) and kept The Basin to 7/74. Kit Sutton again did the damage with the ball taking 3/3 and was supported by Finn Whyte with 2/9. Lastly, the Super 7s (5/129) continued their rampage, beating Ferntree Gully (106).
Mitch Holder ticked over 100 for the season with 19, with Jasper Beer making 16.
Micah Hodgkinson was superb with his work behind the stumps with the gloves.
First eleven
Monbulk 10/192 (J. Fraser 61, D. Clark 33, S. Cosstick) d Mountain Gate 10/156 (B. Taeuber 4/41)
Second eleven
Monbulk 5/107 (B. Martin 53) d Mountain Gate 10/106 (J. Spencer 4/26)
Third eleven
Monbulk 6/184 (L. Mackin 62) d Johnson Park 4/165
Under-16s
Johnson Park 2/140 d Monbulk 6/126 (J. Bolton 26, W. Copelin 21)
Mazenod 5/121 d Monbulk-Olinda 6/116 (A. McDonald 25*, C. McLean 19, J. Davis 15)
Under-13s
Monbulk 2/125 (L. McDonald 45*, J. Defina 11, T. Mackay 21*) d Belgrave 5/108
Under-12s
Monbulk 3/108 (R. Kay 26*, A. Hilton-Stewart 22*) d Olinda 0/80
Fast 9s
Monbulk 8/94 (K. Sutton 24, E. Knight 22*) d The Basin 7/74 (F. Whyte 2/9, K. Sutton 3/3)
Super 7s
Monbulk 5/129 (M. Holder 19, J. Beer 16) d Ferntree Gully 106
