A shakeup in the finals mix came in the form of a Croydon (210) upset as Noble Park (146) faltered at home in round 13 of the VSDCA East/West competition.
The result is a potential nightmare for Noble, left feeling vulnerable as it currently sits in fifth.
Across the two-day action, Croydon opted to take the bat in hand after winning the toss.
Regular breakthroughs for the hosts seemingly kept them in front for the first inning, despite Josh McMeeken (62) providing resistance opening the batting and skipper Jack Conroy (64) holding tight in the middle.
The pair of McMeeken and Conroy formed a near 50-run partnership, rescuing Croydon out of trouble from 5/81 to 6/130.
Some handy knocks at the tail from Jack Ellis (19) and Chris Brown (13 not out) brought the visitors to 210 after 66.3 overs.
Jermain Levy bagged three poles for Noble and was busy early, while Muharjithan Thedchanamoorthy, Yehan Gunasingha and Janaka Liyanabadalge all took two wickets each.
In the pursuit, disaster struck early with Archie Stefan (4) being caught in the first over.
Nischaya Thapa (3) also didn’t stick around long and Noble sat at 2/25, before a middle order collapse pushed the hosts right to the brink.
After superstar Sahan Perera (14), Yehan Gunasingha (27) and Mahesh Kumara (1) fell, Noble was 5/51.
Pawan Dias Edirisinghe (59) showed plenty of fight in an attempt to salvage the innings, but partners continued to lose their wickets.
It started with captain Liyanabadalge (22) heading on his way after spooning one straight back to Conroy.
At that stage, Noble was in a dire situation at 6/90, despite Dias Edirisinghe powering along.
But again he continued to lose partners at the other end, and Noble’s last hopes were dashed when Dias Edirisinghe was caught off the bowling of Adam Quirk.
The hosts were rolled for 146, with Conroy finishing off his versatile performance by notching three wickets.
At Sydney Pargeter Reserve, Assadollah Vala epitomised an ‘almost’ day for Endeavour Hills.
The Eagles were forced to bowl after Box Hill won the toss, with the visitors quickly piling on 276.
Box Hill was led by a massive knock from Nathan Flinn (137) to guide their time at the crease and build a competitive score.
Endeavour Hills then formed a strong foundation at 2/70 with Vala settling in in the middle.
He batted extremely well but ultimately fell agonisingly short of a ton on 99, being caught.
The hosts were still tracking well despite Vala being dismissed, sitting at 4/178.
But Box Hill retaliated and took wickets in a flurry, flipping the game by taking 4/17 to push the Eagles back to 8/218.
From there, the innings couldn’t be revived and Endeavour Hills was knocked over for 250.
VSDCA SUMMARY
Results R13 (two-day): Noble Park (146) def by Croydon (210), Endeavour Hills (250) def by Box Hill (276), Yarraville (152) def by Werribee (308), Williamstown (8/143) def Melton (141), Spotswood (8/285) def Taylors Lakes (192), Balwyn (9/159) def Bayswater (155), Hoppers Crossing (162) def by Altona (221), Donvale (126) def by Mt Waverley (3/258d).
Fixture R14 (two-day): Bayswater v Endeavour Hills, Melton v Noble Park, Balwyn v Yarraville, Box Hill v Hoppers Crossing, Croydon v Werribee, Altona v Donvale, Taylors Lakes v Mt Waverley, Williamstown v Spotswood.
