Hadspen coach's back-to-back centuries only just denied in strong victory

The star all-rounder was dismissed for 97 off 87 balls with the first ball of the 31^st over, hitting Jessie Arnol's delivery to Longford captain-coach Richard Howe.

Luckily for Weeks, Stan Tyson (48 not out) continued on with it and got the Chieftains home, passing Longford's score of 8-186 in the 36-over match.

Longford bowler Kieran Davey backed up his six-wicket haul last week with 1-21 off eight overs, while Hadspen's Glenn Ellis was their leading bowler with 3-44.

Tyson started his game strong with 2-20 off eight as Longford debutant Dan Forster made 39 and Howe reached 32.

The victory maintains Hadspen's second place on the ladder, putting them six points behind Evandale Panthers, who extended their unbeaten record, getting the better of ACL by five wickets.

Batting first, the Bluebacks were bowled out for 179, with the ladder leaders chasing it down in the 29^th over as extras were costly for the bowlers.

The home side conceded 48 extras, 42 of them wides, heavily assisting the Panthers' chase.

Nikhil Bhatkar provided the victors' highest score, smacking 41 off just 35 balls as Grant Davern and Doug Ryan both made 28 - the latter unbeaten.

Almost all of ACL's bowlers took wickets as Ben Harris, captain-coach Troy Huggins, Garry Chahal, Daniel Summers and Cameron Martin all chipped in

ACL's leaders starred with the bat as Huggins scored 51 and Simon Chappell 48, with Huggins blasting five sixes on his way to the half-century.

However, his opposing number Jonty Manktelow (3-26) finished with three late wickets and debutant Aaron Rush (2-26) and Sam McLean (2-46) also claimed multiples.

Trevallyn bounced back from last week's devastating loss, defeating Perth by 59 runs.

After being dismissed for just 46 by Longford, the visitors scraped to 9-131 before bowling out the Demons for 72.

Number seven batter Clayde White top scored with 28, with captain Matthew Kerrison not far behind making 24 as all six of Perth's bowlers took a wicket.

Jason Sherriff was the most successful with 3-21 off six, while Rizvy Rila took 2-28.

Unfortunately for the Demons, they were unable to take the momentum into their batting innings as only two batters - Ethan Goldfinch (11) and captain Mason Keane (10) reached double figures.

Trevallyn young gun Ethan Bakker led the way with 4-23 off seven overs, while opening bowler Anthony Johnstone claimed 3-14 in his first premier league game of the season.

The victory extended the gap between Trevallyn and Longford, keeping the former in touch with second-placed Hadspen.

Legana had Saturday's bye.