PENOLA cricketers played themselves into a winning position on day one of the final minor round of Barber Shield cricket on Saturday, holding West Gambier to just 118 runs.
West’s top order did not fire at all, with the top score coming from Shane Stevens at number five – only 24 runs – with the openers contributing little to the cause.
Brad Many was the main contributing factor to the early collapse, claiming three of the top-order batsmen for just a handful of runs, while George Kidman performed a similar feat further down the order.
The Eagles used the home ground at McCorquindale Park to their advantage, winning the toss and sending the Roos in to bat, which paid dividends early.
With just three runs on the board, opener Tye McManus was sent back to the sidelines after offering just one to the total, caught behind by Mark Smith off the bowling of Michael Waters.
Things did not improve for West, with Jake Blackwell heading to the crease and returning to the shed soon after.
Maney had him caught by Curt Evans for two runs and the writing was already on the wall with the total at just six.
The carnage continued after just seven more runs, with opener Connor Prior sent on his way, another victim of Maney, this time caught by Jack Mullan.
With only one more run added, Ben Hentschke became Maney’s third victim, caught by Kidman for one run and suddenly the Roos were in a world of hurt at 4/14.
From there Stevens and Niall Easterbrook settled and began to amass some runs, finding the occasional boundary to add a partnership of 21.
Easterbrook was first to go, caught by Kidman off Evans for 13, but Sam Willis joined Stevens at the crease and again the runs began to flow again.
The pair added a further 22 before Stevens was caught by Jase Bateman off the bowling of Evans.
With the scorecard reading 6/57, West needed to find something and the tail began to wag, finding the runs that eluded the top order.
Richard Crute joined the run chase, but soon lost his partner Willis, who succumbed to a Kidman delivery, while Crute banged on a quick-fire 15 before Kidman knocked his stumps from the ground.
Then just like Maney at the top of the innings, Kidman hit form with the ball and had the incoming Josh Cornolo lbw for 12 runs for his third straight scalp.
Jack Geddes showed some resistance, adding 20 to the cause before Dave Somerfield had him caught on 20, ending the West innings for just 118.
Maney and Kidman did the damage with three wickets each to set up what should be a simple run chase this weekend, with the bonus of a home final should they succeed.
After heading in to bat, Penola now sits at 0/7 overnight.
