ST Mary's always backs its bowlers to get the job done, and it was no different in the Wimmera-Mallee A Grade grand final rematch against St Arnaud on Saturday.
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Playing at Warracknabeal, the reigning premier was bowled out for just 110 runs in 36.4 overs.
The team looked like it might be headed for its first loss of the season, but the bowling attack gave St Arnaud nothing to work with.
Dangerous St Arnaud top order batsmen Jacob Patching, Torin Pietrie and Bruce Hando were kept extremely quiet.
St Arnaud's top seven batsmen combined for just 11 runs, before Carl Torney's 58-run knock added some respectability to the team's scorecard.
Torney was the lone St Arnaud batsman to have an impact and when he was caught and bowled by St Mary's Justin Knorpp, the match was as good as over.
St Mary's all-rounder Tim Bell had a quiet day with the bat but made up for it with the ball.
He made just five runs, but claimed as many wickets to be the most devastating bowler on either side.
Bell removed both St Arnaud openers along with the dangerous Hando.
Bell stressed the importance of a good bowling performance before the match.
"Our bowling is always our strength so if we bowl and field well, it usually goes a long way towards winning a game for us," he said.
"Over the past few years we haven't usually been renowned for making big scores, but this year we've made a couple of scores about 200, which has been good."
The 110-87 scoreline saw St Mary's remain undefeated atop the ladder, while St Arnaud is still third.
Brim-Kellalac-Sheep Hills kept second place on the ladder after benefitting from a Charlton forfeit.
Jeffcott had its second win of the season and leapfrogged the sliding Blues by beating Wycheproof-Narraport at home.
Sixty-odd runs from both Daniel Atkins and Brody Haddow set up Jeffcott's 5-162, and the Demons could not get close despite contributions from Dale Crawford, skipper Nick Coles and Johnathon Grylls.
Coles and Robbie Senior claimed two wickets apiece, but Haddow was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3-9 from six overs.
Marnoo proved no match for Donald despite playing at home, going down 7-219 to 186.
Donald's opening pair of captain Jake Leith and Andrew Bayles put on a 105-run partnership, while contributions from Matt Gilmour and Edward Landwehr pushed the team's total past 200.
Opener Ben Duxson tried to get Marnoo off to a solid start in its run chase but kept losing partners.
Jack McAllister, Stuart Lang, Ross Tickner and David Lang also fought for runs in the middle-order, but to no avail.
Gilmour was the best of the Donald bowlers with three wickers and was supported by Leith and Reece Murray, who claimed two apiece.
Trent Carter also claimed three wickets for Marnoo.
