While the Maroons still sit second due to an inferior quotient, they have landed a big blow in their final game before the Christmas break, and will no doubt head into the festive period full of confidence.
Elsewhere, Alexandra jumped into the top four with a win over Puckapunyal, while it was Pyalong that made way, dropping outside of the finals positions for the first time this season following a defeat to Yea.
Seymour Club A-grade
Yea Tigers 4-80 (C Armstrong 51no, S Mitchell 2-13) d Pyalong 10-79 (M Pratt 22, J Hadjiloukas 18, T White 4-29, J Christie 3-19)
Yea took on Pyalong at home with a spot in the top four up for grabs.
Pyalong batted first and found itself in some early trouble at 6-34 as Thomas White (4-29) and Jack Christie (3-19) ran through Pyalong’s top and middle order.
It was skipper Matt Pratt and coach James Hadjiloukas who offered some lower order resistance, allowing Pyalong to add a measure of respectability to its total.
The run chase was made simple by Cam Armstrong who played a dominant innings of 51 not out, with no other player making it to double figures.
The win sees Yea jump to third while Pyalong slips out of the top four for the first time this season.
Alexandra 6-131 (M Wal 53, J Fulton 19, L Deeble 2-18) d Puckapunyal 130 (C Davies 53no, J Voogt 23, J Crane 3-23, N Waugh 2-8)
Alexandra continued its run of good form with a comfortable four wicket win over Puckapunyal.
Puckapunyal looked to be in a solid position for most of its innings with the bat as James Voogt and Ciaran Fountain played important supporting roles. It was Charles Davies who once again led from the front finishing on 53 not out.
It was a lower order collapse of 6-10 that left Puckapunyal with not enough runs on the board. Josh Crane led the way with 3-23, with both Nathan Waugh and Justin Leary chipping in with two wickets each.
The successful run chase for Alexandra was led by young gun Matthew Wal, who steadied the shop with a well crafted 53 to get the Redbacks over the line in the 33rd over.
Seymour 139 (B Horkings 23, L Drummond 15, M Archibald 3-34, L Watts 2-23) d Tallarook 113 (J Rudge 44, L Drummond 4-13, D Bergowicz 3-37)
The top two came head to head at Chittick Park with Seymour looking to end Tallarook’s unbeaten record.
Tallarook won the toss and opted to bowl, with Matt Archibald getting to work early with two quick wickets. Wickets fell at regular intervals with some important lower order contributions from Braidon Horkings and Brett Gordon allowing Seymour to post a competitive total of 139.
Seymour was on fire early, leaving Tallarook 4-29 and in big trouble. Opener Josh Rudge (44) combined with Tarkyn Dundon to put on 60 runs before both fell in quick succession.
It was Lachlan Drummond with 4-13 and Dan Bergowicz with 3-37 that did the majority of the damage to dismiss Tallarook for 113 and even up the top end of the ladder.
Atmos Renewables B-grade
Pyalong 7-174 (M Leahy 41no, D Zoch 28no, M Singh 2-23) d Yea Tigers 55 (L McAlpin 14, P Reynolds 3-5, A Pratt 3-12)
Puckapunyal 136 (J Nipperess 51, R Kuttikadan 4-30, L Crane 2-22) d Alexandra 117 (A Wood 37, T Ward 35, V Agnew 5-33, M Dunn 2-14)
Tallarook 105 (D McCullough 25, B O’Donnell 22, X Nelson 3-12, K Sison 2-16) d Seymour 76 (S Watts 3-25, B Dundon 2-8)
GMCU under 16s
Avenel 23 (F Melville 4-7, B Tucker 3-2) lost to Seymour 3-25 (H Smith 11no, H Black 2-4)
Pyalong 7-178 (N Wilkins 37, T Caddie 33) d Yea Tigers 31 (J McNicholas 3-3, J Wilkins 3-11)
