The Maroons put in a strong showing against Broadford at Chittick Park on Saturday, but were left to wonder what might have been after letting an even better position slip through their fingers.
SDCA | Tigers roar home in one-day final
In the first two-day fixture of the campaign, Simon Van Duinen's troops had Broadford in all sorts of trouble at 4-28 and 6-76 after the visitors had elected to take first use of the pitch following the toss, but a 104-run stand for the seventh wicket forced the contest back towards an even keel.
“A couple of dropped chances early on in the day and to have them 6-80 odd and then watch them put on a 100-run partnership hurt a little bit,” Seymour coach Brock Boddington said.
“Through those middle overs we just dropped off a little bit.”
Jeremy Bradshaw (64 from 98 deliveries) and Aaron Gleeson (44 from 100) dug in for Broadford after the early collapse, with skipper Greg Hobba (27 from 58) and tailender Taylor Shell (22 not out from 34) also chiming in to help their side reach 221 all-out in the 68th over of the day.
SDCA | Eastern Hill no trouble for Kilmore
Dallas Anderson did most of the damage for the Maroons, snaring 4-53 from 11.4 overs - including the crucial wicket of Bradshaw to break Broadford's cornerstone partnership - while Hayden Gawne (2-30) also secured multiple wickets.
“Once we got the breakthrough it started falling our way again,” Boddington said.
“The first seven games of the year have been a little bit tough but we've been in a few of them and we've just got to be more consistent.”
Seymour will resume on Saturday with 1-19 on the board following eight overs in the shadow of stumps, with Jason Brown (five from 28) the man to depart.
Brett Gordon (13 not out) and Gawne (one not out) will look to start again on day two and steer the Maroons towards success.
“We've got all 80 overs to chase the runs down and that's a long time to bat,” Boddington said.
“The boys just have to use their heads a little bit and be smart about it, push the runs around a bit, keep the good balls out and put the bad ones away.”