By John Thomson
Monday 3 October saw Lilydale be able to play a game at home for the first time this season as their court had finally dried out enough to play on for the Level Play competition.
Lilydale was probably fielding their strongest team in Glenn Crook, Craig McCracken and Alan Jones. This week they were taking on a very capable Brunswick team.
The first game was a doubles game and Lilydale got off to a flier, with Alan Jones and Craig McCracken winning 7 hoops to Brunswick’s 1 hoop. Alan and Craig are proving to be a very strong doubles combination this season.
The next two games were singles games. The first game saw Brunswick hit back winning 7 hoops to Lilydale’s 4 hoops.
The second of the singles games was quite a struggle but Lilydale was able to get in front in the second half of the game and eventually hung on for a 7 hoops to 5 hoops win.
At the lunch break it was Lilydale in front 2 games 18 hoops to Brunswick 1 game 13 hoops.
After lunch it was the reverse singles.
Again, Brunswick were not going to be denied and had a comfortable win, winning 7 hoops to Lilydale’s 4 hoops.
With one game to go it was 2 games all with Lilydale just 2 hoops up. This was going down to the wire.
Everything was hanging on this last singles game. It was proving to be a very tight game with Lilydale again just able to edge in front for a win, 7 hoops to Brunswick’s 5 hoops.
The final score for the day being Lilydale 3 games 29 hoops to Brunswick 2 games 25 hoops.
This win keeps Lilydale on top of the ladder and undefeated so far this season.
Later in the week, Lilydale took on MCC Elsternwick in the Handicap competition. Although it was Lilydale’s home game it had to be played at Ringwood as Lilydale only had one court.
The day started under the threat of rain with heavy clouds overhead but the weather gods were kind and it was a fine day.
The first game was a singles game, and Glenn Crook, Lilydale’s captain, got off to a great start winning his game 7 hoops to MCC Elsternwick 1 hoop.
The next game was a doubles game and Lilydale had their strong doubles combination of Alan Jones and Craig McCracken playing in this game. Once again this pairing came away with a comfortable win, winning 7 hoops to MCC Elsternwick 2 hoops.
In the next game MCC were able to get their nose in front and came away with a 7 hoops to Lilydale’s 5 hoops win.
Next was a doubles game, and this time Lilydale had Craig McCracken paired with Mick Crawley, who, in his first season of shield competition, is proving to be a very capable player at this level. Once again Lilydale got off to a good start and MCC were on the back foot for the rest of the game. Lilydale 7 hoops MCC 3 hoops.
At the break it was Lilydale 3 games 26 hoops MCC 1 game 13 hoops. With two games to play after lunch MCC were like the boy with the barrow. “They had the job ahead of them”.
The second last game was a singles game and MCC came out and really played well. The game was close all the way through with MCC just sneaking over the line, 7 hoops to Lilydale’s 6 hoops.
In the last game Lilydale paired up Glenn Crook with Mick Crawley. These two have not played a lot together, but that did not seem to matter, as they came away with a 7 hoops to MCC 4 hoops.
The final score for the day, Lilydale 4 games 39 hoops to MCC Elsternwick 2 games 24 hoops.
This win puts Lilydale back on top of the ladder, but they are still to have their bye which might change things.
