The Rooks were emphatic in victory over Seymour, while Yea stayed perfect and Alexandra put its first points on the board for the 2025-26 season.
Seymour Club A Grade
Tallarook 3-163 (L Watts 61, M Itter 58) def Seymour 9-61 (B Horkings 16, M Archibald 3-13, B Munari-O’Dwyer 3-18)
The reigning premier kicked off its campaign for a fourth consecutive premiership in style at home against Seymour.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the Maroons had Tallarook in some early trouble with only 15 runs on the board after five overs and leading batsman Josh Rudge back in the sheds.
From that point on it was all Tallarook, however, as Mitch Itter and Lachlan Watts put on a 120-run partnership at an astonishing 10 runs an over to put Seymour under extreme pressure.
Itter was run out on 58 with eight fours and a six to his name, and Watts followed shortly after on 61, also with eight boundaries.
Leigh Irving did some late damage with 25 not out off 12 balls, including two sixes, to set Seymour a target of 164 for the win.
Seymour never got going, though, with Blake Munari-O’Dwyer claiming the first three wickets of the game, followed by a couple from Matt Archibald to leave the visitors in trouble at 5-16.
Seymour ended up falling 102 runs short in a convincing win for Tallarook.
Puckapunyal 8-84 (C Davies 21, J Leary 3-19, W Ashton 2-5, L Ronalds 2-11) def by Alexandra 7-88 (W Ashton 20, D Fountain 3-11)
Alexandra and Puckapunyal went head-to-head with both sides looking for their first win of the season.
Alexandra batted first and were guided well once again by captain Will Ashton, who finished with 20, receiving some support from Matthew Wal. Danny Fountain did the majority of the damage with the ball for Pucka, finishing with 3-11 as Alexandra was only able to muster 7-88.
In reply Puckapunyal looked to be cruising as Charles Davies and Nicholas Bennetts built a solid opening partnership. Justin Leary was able to break the game open, dismissing all top three batsman as Pucka crumbled from 1-51 to 8-84, falling four runs short of Alexandra’s total.
Pyalong 5-117 (P Dugard 29, J Pryor 22) def by Yea 2-138 (M Steiner 77no, C Armstrong 53no)
Yea got off to a shaky start against Pyalong, losing both James Simpson and Thomas White without troubling the scorers.
From there the game took a distinct turn as Cam Armstrong joined Marc Steiner at the crease. The pair took the game away from Pyalong, with Steiner particularly destructive in his innings of 77no, supported by Armstrong who finished unbeaten on 53.
Jamie Pryor and Paul Dugard put up some resistance in reply to Yea’s target of 139 but it proved to be too high a score to chase as Pyalong fell 21 runs short.
Atmos Renewables B Grade
Pyalong 4-101 (M Wilkins 28no, J Wilkins 21) def Yea Tigers 6-65 (J Fish 24, J Hill 3-12, J Wilkins 2-5)
Puckapunyal 69 (C Deegan 26, T Cavill 2-6, W Ellis 2-9) def by Alexandra 2-122 (J Crane 65no, M Wal 22no)
Tallarook 7-87 (H Melville 36, B Pointon 2-6, K Sison 2-19) def Seymour 8-63 (H Smith 16, B Trezise 2-5, T Dundon 2-11)
