By ADEM SARICAOGLU
AFTER nearly four months spent trapped in the Sub-District Cricket wilderness, Melton is finally back on the winners list.
The reigning premier Lions picked up where they left off on the road to Sunshine on Saturday after bowling the host out for 137 seven days earlier.
Despite an early hiccup that nearly proved fatal, Melton managed to get to its target for the loss of five wickets, ending the game at 5/141.
Melton vice-president Anthony Gale said there was a certain sense of relief in the Lions’ dressing room after the win – only their second for the summer.
“It was nice to have a win, but our number of wins weren’t really a true reflection of how we’ve played through the year,” Gale said.
“So it just probably didn’t go our way for a lot of the time this year, but it was good that we dug deep and got the win we needed. It was nice.”
The Lions were in serious trouble early in the day after losing four wickets before 20 runs were posted on the board, but a match-saving partnership between captain-coach Nathan Geisler (41) and Stuart Wilson (45 not out) saved the day.
Leg spinner Nathan Allen – who set the game up nicely for Melton with seven wickets on day one – also proved handy with the bat on Saturday, scoring an unbeaten 21.
The win wasn’t enough to lift Melton off the bottom of the table, but the Lions have two more chances to end the season on a high with games against Noble Park and Croydon to come.
“There’s a few of us who have had a poor year so it’d be nice to get a couple of scores or bags of wickets to finish this year off,” Gale said.
“If you can do that, then you can beat anyone.”
