RUP-MINYIP suffered its first A Grade loss of the season in round nine of the competition on Saturday.
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The Blue Panthers hosted Jung Tigers at Rupanyup and went down by five wickets after setting a target of 158 to win.
The home side had been struggling for numbers in recent rounds but continued to find a way to field a team and notch up wins until round eight, when it was forced to forfeit against Horsham Saints.
After winning the toss Rup-Minyip was in early trouble as opener Leigh Funcke and number three Scott McCurdy were both bowled by David Puls for a duck.
Puls picked up a third wicket by ripping through Ryan Metelmann for five.
Adam Carter and Travis Hair did not last much longer, Brad Clark removed them both.
It was left to Daniel Schaper and Clint Midgley to rebuild the innings and push Rup-Minyip to a total that could be defended.
Schaper became Clark’s third victim when he was on 29. Midgley continued his resistance before eventually being dismissed by Angus Adams for 55. Rup-Minyip limped to the end of its 45 overs to finish 9-157.
Jung looked in control of the chase right from the start.
Openers Sam Leith, 34, and Puls, 44, took a liking to Victor Lothian, who was hit out of the attack after conceding 31 runs in his first four overs.
Midgley briefly threatened to swing the game back in his team’s favour with the ball. He picked up the first four wickets and finished with figures of 4-47.
Conor Lawson steadied the innings with an unbeaten 31 to guide Jung home in the 38th over.
Homers proved too good for Blackheath-Dimboola on the back of another Lachlan Jones century.
Homers batted first and lost Michael Langford early. Jones joined Simon Hopper at the crease and the pair set the innings up nicely.
When Simon was dismissed for 57, Chris Hopper took his place without a break in Homers’ momentum.
Jones finished unbeaten on 103 and Chris Hopper added 44 as the side set Blackheath-Dimboola a target of 251.
In reply, it was Lachlan Watts who again shouldered the burden for Blackheath-Dimboola. His 71 was a standout top-score as the side managed 8-169.
Craig Britten bowled tightly to record figures of 1-21 off nine and Simon Hopper picked up 2-13 off seven.
In the day-night game at Horsham City Oval, Horsham Saints overpowered Laharum.
The Saints batted first after winning the toss.
Opener Simon McKinnon became the 10th Saints player to pass the 3000-run mark for the club before being dismissed for 21.
It was then left to Matt Combe and captain Tony Caccaviello to build the innings from 2-42.
The pair put together a 100-run partnership before Caccaviello was dismissed for 49.
Combe followed shortly after as runs started to become harder to get.
Young Corey Smith, 36, continued his good form to control the innings as partners came and went before some heavy hitting in the final three overs pushed the Saints’ total to 6-227.
Josh Mahoney, 35, was the only source of resistance in Laharum’s reply. Tim Braendler claimed 4-32 on debut to clean up the top order before Jono Carrol, 4-8, worked his way through the bottom half of the card.
