MELTON Centrals defeated Tarneit in their opening round WDCA A-grade matting clash at Blackwood Reserve on Saturday, winning without the loss of a single wicket.
Centrals openers Daniel Vasjuta and Matthew Goatley produced an emphatic unbeaten partnership to chase down Tarneit’s 199 in just 19 overs, with Goatley finishing on 115 and Vasjuta on 70.
Tarneit won the toss and chose to bat first, which initially seemed a wise choice with Hardeep Singh (67), Pranav Sood (51) and Rajkanwar Singh Taneja (46) all getting decent starts with the bat.
Tarneit’s top order was looking solid but when Melton Centrals bowler Andrew Zenonos finally broke through with the ball, he managed to snare the wickets of openers Taneja and Singh to finish with figures of 2/65.
Tarneit used eight different bowlers in an attempt to break the Vasjuta/Goatley partnership, but none could break through and all of them struggled to keep the runs to a minimum.
Melton South Primary School completed the double for the Melton-based WDCA clubs, taking care of Werribee Centrals by eight wickets at Galvin Park.
Werribee Centrals chose to bat first and stumbled their way to 7/141 in 35 overs, which ultimately proved an easy target for Melton South to chase down.
Sam Crea was handy with the bat Werribee with a solid 38, but once he was dismissed, Melton South bowler Jeremy Roberts tore through their middle order to claim 5/15 in just six overs.
Melton South needed just under 21 overs to knock over their target, as Anthony Yates (46*), Michael Truswell (38) and Leigh Edwards (34*) all got starts with the bat.
Daniel Jackson was run out for nine, leaving Aaron Edrich as Werribee Centrals’ only wicket-taker, getting 1/11 off his two overs.
The win sees Melton South entering round two on top of the ladder.
CHANCELLOR Cullen took out the Group Two City of Melton Plate on Friday night, saluting for happy punters at $3.40.
A healthy crowd gathered to watch the event, which was one of 11 races at the course over the night.
The horse went into the race as second favourite behind Caribbean Blaster.
In the early stages of the race Chancellor Cullen navigated its way past I’m Barney Rubble down the back straight, which had galloped, to take the lead.
The four-year-old was able to maintain a healthy gap over the rest of the field for the majority of the race until the challenge came on the final bend from Caribbean Blaster.
After looking as though it may have been overrun, Chancellor Cullen was able to find another gear and kicked away to win by three metres with Chris Alford on board.
The final quarter was run in 27.1 seconds.
THE Western Region Football League has appointed Mark Westgarth as the director of umpiring for the 2013 season.
The decision was made as the league aims to sure up its current record number of umpires.
Westgarth will take on the role for an initial three-year term, with the key objective of continuing to grow umpire numbers, with an extra focus on retention & training.
The league currently has over 300 umpires involved on weekend match days, with a recent increase in junior females taking up the whistle for the first time.
WRFL Chief Executive Officer Bob Tregear said Westgarth’s appointment was another proactive step taken by the league in developing the officiating side of the game.
“The league continues to put resources into the recruitment, retention and education of umpires, and Mark’s background in both umpiring and the western suburbs makes him a perfect fit for the role,” Tregear said.
“He has already had a great impact with our umpiring academy at Mackillop College, and through his teaching role at the school he has significant experience working with our key demographic of new umpires – being teenagers.”
