Tara Murray
Taylors Lakes has gotten the reinforcement that its on the right track as it made it two from two in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association south-west on Saturday.
The Lions started the season with a win, but the bigger test was in round two against Spotswood, which has played in two successive grand finals.
Lions coach Peter Brasher said they always knew the game against Spotswood would tell them a bit more about where they are at.
“It reinforced what we thought we knew,” he said. “We thought we’d be a relatively competitive team.
“Round one was a bit of an unknown and it wasn’t going to tell us a lot. Spotswood has been one of the pacesetters the last couple of years.
“We know we’re not going to repeat a performance like this every week but we’ll certainly celebrate the win.”
Spotswood won the toss and decided to bat. The Woodsmen made 9-164 from their overs.
George Sakkas, Chalitha Chamoda and Melisha Deshapriya took two wickets each for the Lions.
Brasher said they were a bit unlucky early on with a dropped catch and a possible knick not being given out.
He said this is where they saw the difference in the team they’ve got this year compared to previous years.
“The old Taylors Lakes wouldn’t have overcome that adversity,” he said. “We spoke about getting the business done and not worrying about the things on the edges.
“They doubled down and worked with each other to restrict them to 164.
“It gave us a chance.”
Brasher missed the start of the Lions innings as he ducked over to Footscray to see his son Dylan Brasher make a 100 in Victorian Premier Cricket.
By the time he returned to the Lions they had lost a couple of quick wickets.
The Lions steadied and finished 4-165 to seal the win.
Captain Steffan Roberts finished 88 not out to guide his team to the win.
“We had a couple of other contributors and made it with nine or 10 overs to spare, so that took away the nerves,” Brasher said.
“It was a professional performance.”
The Lions now face Williamstown in a one-dayer this Saturday. The Seagulls got their first win of the season on Saturday.
Brasher said they have to make sure they stay focused and not get ahead of themselves.
“We’ll be reinforcing things this week,” he said. “It’s a new day and a new game and it starts again.”
