Grubbers still in the finals hunt

Sam McGlynn

Ocean Grove made a statement during its nine-wicket thrashing of Jan Juc.

The Grubbers enter the break in fifth spot on the A1 Grade ladder, nine points adrift of Armstrong Creek.

On Saturday they turned the tables on their round six loss to the Sharks to completely dominate the contest at Ray Menzies Oval.

Jan Juc won the toss and batted first, but that would be the only time the Sharks were in the contest.

Sam McGlynn pounced on his A Grade recall to take 4/31 from eight overs in helping rout Jan Juc for 70 all out.

Alex Mann and Bailey LeMaistre each took 2/5 while Dan Roddis and Mick Thornton each grabbed one.

There were four sucks in the Sharks’ innings and only two players reached double figures.

Often small run chases can be tricky, but a 42-run opening stand between Shaun Fankhauser (22) and Fletcher Long (29 not out) made certain there were no mishaps.

Ocean Grove reached the target in 21 overs.

Jan Juc defeated Ocean Grove in B1 Grade.

Luke Morrison (40) and Troy Wiseman (32) played well, but a final total of 132 all out was always going to be tough to defend.

Grant Haidlinger and Iva Priest each snared three wickets for the Sharks.

Grove needed early wickets, but the Juc top order played well.

Chris Huxtable (45), Priest (29) and Jack Wyeth (29) saw the Sharks to 1/107, but four wickets for 12 runs then saw Grove ever so slightly back in the contest.

However, the total just wasn’t enough to defend despite spinner Wiseman picking up three wickets.

A superb 104 from 102 deliveries by Michael Moulton gave Barwon Heads the win in C Grade.

Earlier, Oliver Corby (39) and Noah Brooks (38) got the Grubbers to 165 all out before Moulton then took the game away with nine boundaries and five sixes.

The Gulls got the runs only two down with 11 overs to spare.