Six on the trot for Valleys

Moonee Valley achieved a first on the November 10/11 weekend - our top six senior teams all took the points.

It's the first time that all six of the two-day teams have won on the same weekend - and indeed the first time any more than four of our senior teams have won since our glory days in the 80s and 90s.

And we almost made it seven in a row, with our Sevenths going down by a narrow 6 runs.

Our Eighths and Ninths and our women's team were all well beaten, but there is plenty of promise being shown.

And our juniors have been to the fore, with players from our Under 16s and Under 14s, and recent graduates from our junior program, prominent in each of the grades.

Our First Eleven had a few anxious moments at Ormond Park on the Saturday, with Craigieburn resuming at 8/102 chasing our first-day total of 152. We picked up the ninth wicket with just 12 runs in the balance and got the last one three runs later with a magnificent run out to young gun Matt Thomas, to get the points. We fell in a heap in our second dig, all out for 131, but the match was in our keeping. The star was our Broadmeadows Sub District recruit Daniel Bailey with 6/67 to give him 17 wickets @ 12.5 in the Firsts this season.

Our Seconds had been washed out the first week up at Craigieburn, and the track second time around wasn't much better. We limited them to 9/74 off their 40 overs, with Paul Nicol (right) taking 6/25. We struggled ourselves with the bat, but got the win with our 6/79.

The Thirds were at Ormond on Sunday, after also being washed out on the first day.

It was a tough but steady graft against Ascot Vale, with our 5/143 on the back of a sterling batting effort from Joe Van Loon, and a turf debut 23 not out from Under 14s player Peter Chiera (left). We shared the wickets around as we bundled Ascot Vale out for 97, with three great run outs - two of them early - putting them on the back foot. Joe Van Loon backed up with a magnificent 3/14.

The Fourths had left themselves in a strong position at the end of Day 1, with 286 on the Ormond Park synthetic wicket based on 79 from Mick Cumbo and 72 from 100-gamer Dean Jukic. 

Greg Nicol (right) and Jesse Felle each grabbed three wickets as we got Royal Park Reds all out for 211.

We had a strong complement of Under 16s in the Fifths, playing out at Jackson Reserve against East Coburg.

We always thought that their 253 on Day 1 was a reachable target, as we tied them down with great spells from young gun Frankie Reitano and wily captain Sandro Capocchi, who each took three wickets.

It was a big chase on Day 2, and we were up to it. The youngsters built solid partnerships to support  Sandro, whose 144 ensured we got past the target with three wickets in hand.

Our Sixths picked up the points easily - Pascoe Vale Central conceded a walkover.

And we followed the success up on the Tuesday, easily winning the first round of the North West Cricket Association's Twenty20 competition, playing against Buckley Park on our home turf.

The challenge now is to ensure we keep the success going at Moonee Valley - and there's no reason why we can't!

14/11/07