By ADEM SARICAOGLU
A BREAKTHOUGH century for 16-year-old gun Patrick McKenna has helped put Melton on top of the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association ladder.
McKenna combined with Lions captain Michael Allen for a game-breaking 182-run second wicket partnership to give Melton the upper hand over Yarraville on Saturday, chasing the Eagles’ 9/277 from seven days earlier.
Melton coach Duncan Harrison described the partnership as amazing, and highlighted McKenna’s innings of 106 after he was promoted to number three in place of Anthony Gale, who is battling an elbow injury.
“To get a hundred batting at three under pressure was fantastic, so we were really pleased with that and obviously they put on a great partnership and set the whole game up,” Harrison said.
“In the couple of years Patty’s (McKenna) been with us he’s just continued to develop and he continues to deliver.
“That was a fantastic knock, a really mature knock and he’s going to be quite a player, I think.”
McKenna came to the crease early in the day after Eagle Nick Parish removed Michael Alexander for a duck caught and bowled, leaving Melton on 1/8.
However the Eagles could do little but spectate as McKenna and Allen unleashed havoc on MacPherson Park Oval until Josh Raymer finally broke the deadlock, removing Allen caught behind four runs short of what would have been his first century for the summer.
Raymer became Yarraville’s go-to man as he quickly dismissed David Kirk for nine before claiming McKenna to give the Eagles a sniff with Melton at 4/223.
An injured Shane Harwood could only manage seven runs before Raymer removed him, halting the Lions’ chase again at 5/225.
Nathan Allen was then run out for one as Melton’s middle-order appeared to show signs of collapsing, but with Jeremy Liddy (31*) and Jesse Merlo (22*) holding the fort, the Lions kept up with their required run rate and claimed victory with a single over to spare, finishing 6/280.
Harrison denies his side nearly blew their chase after four wickets fell for just 29 runs.
“One of the things we talked about at the start was having a good amount of wickets at tea – which we did,” Harrison said.
“We always knew we had to take a few more risks and there’d be a few more wickets lost but we were confident with the amount of batting we had.
“We always thought if we batted the 80 overs we’d be close to or passed the total.”
With a one day road trip to Altona next on the agenda, Harrison remains unsure if Gale and Harwood, both battling elbow injuries, will be available for the clash.
“Shane will be touch and go this week as to whether he bowls, but he’ll definitely still play as a batter,” he said of Harwood.
“With Anthony (Gale) I’m not sure. He might play (or) he might not play this week.”
