ALLANSFORD-Panmure coach Jacob Bloom says the Gators are brimming with confidence after defeating reigning premier Brierly Christ-Church to secure their first win as a newly-merged side.
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The Gators were winless after three Warrnambool and District Cricket Association rounds but sent shock-waves across the competition with their six-run victory at Uebergang Oval on Saturday.
They cobbled together 175 and had Bulls skipper Matthew Love out early for a duck.
But former Brierly Christ-Church captain Nathan Murphy stepped up to provide a stumbling block for Allansford-Panmure.
Murphy made 85 before Tom Wright, who finished with match-defining figures of 4-9, got him out.
Bloom said the result was the culmination of a dedicated pre-season and the club now wanted to "build on the confidence the win gets you".
"We're absolutely stoked with the result," he said.
"We put a lot of work in pre-season wise and we've finally seen the dividends of that.
"We didn't have the results early that we were looking for. We were close, we just hadn't put it all together in one game."
Bloom was pleased with the Gators' bowling efforts which included Josh Parsons' 2-6.
"We were thinking 180-200 would have been par but we thought with a good bowling attack we might be able to come home really strong because we bowl deep," he said.
Wright, who played in the Grassmere competition before this year's merger, has been one of the Gators' "hardest workers at training".
"He's done the whole pre-season, both Tuesday and Thursday nights," Bloom said.
"He really puts in and hadn't seen the dividends yet but today it all came together for him which was fantastic."
Port Fairy's three-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of Wesley-CBC.
The Beavers were restricted to 134 with Pirate Mark Pitt snaring 4-27.
But the Beavers, on their home pitch at Walter Oval, had the Pirates reeling at 6-37 in reply.
Emerging teenager Max Green (47) showed resistance with the bat but Port Fairy was dismissed for 121.
Sam Worden's 5-23 was critical in Dennington's one-wicket win against Merrivale.
Tiger Wil Fleming made 46 of his side's 142.
The Dogs had multiple contributors in their match-winning chase.
Luke Wines (67) and Nick Butters (56) set the tone in Woodford's 24-run win against West Warrnambool.
Ben Threlfall's 86 put the Panthers in the frame but they fell short in reply.
Russells Creek's Rukshan Weerasinghe (62) and Nestles' Geoff Williams (59) both made half centuries in their match.
But it was Weerasinghe's Creekers who were victorious by seven wickets.
Wesley-CBC and Russells Creek will play on Sunday. The match has been pushed forward from round six.
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