NORTH Geelong are into this season’s GCA1 grand final after dominating East Belmont with both bat and ball last weekend.<\/p>\n
In the qualifying final, the Lions sent the Magpies in, and North Geelong took full advantage to make a whopping 404 from 110 overs.<\/p>\n
Across the scorecard, five batsmen made at least 50 runs, led by 84 from Layton McCann.<\/p>\n
On day two, East Belmont faced a massive task and fell convincingly short, with North Geelong bowling them all out for just 188 in the\u00a063rd over.<\/p>\n
Dale Kerr and Victor Morrow took three wickets each, whilst captain Tom Mathieson and Bailey Sykes added two apiece.<\/p>\n
The win sees the Magpies move to the grand final in two weeks’ time, putting them in the box seat for a GCA1-record-breaking seventh straight flag.<\/p>\n
The Lions remain alive with their second chance and will face Lara, who overcame St Peter’s in an\u00a0entertaining clash.<\/p>\n
After the Saints sent them in, the Cats made a commanding 376 runs thanks to big knocks from Andrew Hughes and Kaden Marum. Hughes made 125 and Marum made an unbeaten 123.<\/p>\n
In their innings, St Peters batted relatively consistently and looked on track to make a serious attempt at chasing down the target, before a Cats bowling attack led by George Blatherwick ripped their bottom\u00a0order apart.<\/p>\n
Blatherwick ended up with four wickets, while Luke Wilson added three of his own.<\/p>\n
Lara still have an opportunity to make the grand final in their clash with the Lions, despite only moving into the top division this season.<\/p>\n
To add to their confidence, the Cats wonk both of their home and away season matchups against East Belmont.<\/p>\n
The two-day clash will run across this weekend at Winter Reserve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NORTH Geelong are into this season’s GCA1 grand final after dominating East Belmont with both bat and ball last weekend. In the qualifying final, the Lions sent the Magpies in, and North Geelong took full advantage to make a whopping 404 from 110 overs. Across the scorecard, five batsmen made at least 50 runs, led […]<\/p>\n