Premier Men face uphill battle

GEELONG’S Premier Men will again face an uphill battle to claim victory in the Firsts over Frankston Peninsula, with their opponents stamping their authority with the bat in the first innings.

With a win the only option for the Cats to keep their finals hopes alive, they travelled to Jubilee Park to take on the lower-ranked Heat, who piled on a whopping 340 runs.

The bowling attack struggled to find early wickets, with each of the home side’s first five batsmen making at least 50 runs.

Geelong steadied and took out the tail end easily, but the damage had already been done from Frankston Peninsula’s blistering start.

In a day where positives were rare, youngster Zane Attard impressed with six wickets from his 28 overs, whilst Oliver Haberfield added two more.

The Heat’s high total puts plenty of pressure on the Cats’ batting attack, however it is a group that are certainly capable of chasing down the target.

An unlikely victory could see them move into the top 10, but a loss would all but cross out a shot at a finals berth.

Geelong’s Seconds had a similar result after day one, with Frankston Peninsula piling on 9/360 despite three wickets from Kyle Bienefelt.

The Thirds were held to 9/181 at the day’s conclusion, whilst the Fourths bowled the Heat out for 256.