By ADEM SARICAOGLU
MELTON captain Michael Allen couldn’t believe his luck, or rather lack there of, on Saturday.
His Lions had steadied against Altona in their Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association clash at Frank Kirk Oval after losing three early wickets.
With the security of the experienced Shane Harwood holding the fort at the other end, the pair managed to put on 88 runs before Harwood was run out for 29.
Jeremy Liddy was then trapped on the pads for 13 runs, but Allen remained solid.
He got to 99 with his side at 5/180, but what happened next will stick with him for the rest of the summer if Melton drops this game on Saturday.
Allen, who made 96 a week earlier against Yarraville, edged the ball through to Altona wicketkeeper Simon Jackson and looked gone.
However Jackson couldn’t hold on as the ball ricocheted into first slip.
Now Allen looked safe, but a second ricochet landed back in Jackson’s gloves, and just like that, Allen was walking back to the pavilion still shy of a century this season.
The unfortunate sequence of events deflated Melton’s resistance and the remaining wickets fell cheaply as Altona’s Jake Roberts and Aaron Maynard cleaned up the tail to stop the Lions at 214 after 66.4 overs.
Coach Duncan Harrison admitted the wickets of Harwood and Allen took the wind out of his side’s innings.
“It was disappointing because we were getting ourselves into a position where we were getting on top at that stage, so it was pretty disappointing to see it end with a run out,” Harrison said.
“With Mick (Allen) and Shane Harwood in the middle we were probably looking at posting quite a good score but after that run out we probably fell away pretty badly.
“(Allen’s dismissal) might have given them a nice pep up but we didn’t think of it that way.
“But those are the little things that do happen in a game that changes its course, so we’ll be looking for a few of them next week.”
Nine overs were bowled for the start of Altona’s gettable run chase, with Adam Brown looking good on 23 and skipper John Varchione on four when play resumes this weekend.
However with Harwood back bowling after suffering a recent elbow injury, Harrison is confident Melton can snare the required 10 wickets to keep the Lions on top of the table.
“I’m still very confident and they’re going to have to bat well to get the runs, no doubt,” he said.
“So we’ve got to put them under a lot of pressure and I’d say the first hour or so is going to be really crucial.”
