St Leonards opens its A1 account with confidence-boosting display

ST Leonards opened its account in the Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association A1 competition, defeating 2019/20 finalist Barwon Heads by six wickets.

St Leonards made the jump from A2 after claiming last season’s premiership and will take huge confidence from the weekend’s scalp.

St Leonards chased down the Seagulls’ 5-131 with eight overs to spare. All bar one of its batsmen reached double figures with skipper Andrew Spengler (36) making the greatest contribution.

Cam Egan took 4-28 to lead the St Leonards’ attack while Campbell Snookes (58) and James Hodder (53*) played their part for Barwon Heads after it found itself 4-12 early in the day.

In other round two matches, Barrabool upset Jan Juc in a tight encounter. Barrabool set the Sharks 180 for victory, Jack Purcell (42) the leading run-scorer among many contributors. In pursuit, a 95-run third-wicket between Jordi Withers (48) and Ben Grinter (45) put Jan Juc in a strong position until Aaron Pickering (5-36) came into the attack and changed the momentum. The Sharks lost 7-59 and eventually ran out of time, falling short at 9-172.

Anglesea was too strong for Collendina, claiming a 54-run win; while Queenscliff bowled out Ocean Grove to enjoy a 24-run victory.