HAWK Josh Brown smacked a six, waited out a dot ball then belted a four to carry East Ballarat to victory in Ballarat Cricket Association club firsts on Saturday afternoon.

East Ballarat could breathe a sigh of relief at passing Ballarat-Redan in the second last over before tea in what had been a close match at City Oval.

Experiencd Combine paceman Simon Allan wasted no time in unsettling the Hawks early in day two play.

The Hawks resumed batting at 3-51 with Simon Franc (32) adding two runs to his tally before he was caught out and Harli Givvens dislodged next to have the Hawks 5-66.

Hawks captain Brad Whittaker (28 runs) was left to try and restore the order until the Hawks found a hero in veteran Carl Haseloff.

Nearing, but not quite reaching, his 10,000th club run, Haseloff put on a match-saving 69 runs (5 fours, 3 sixes).

Haseloff formed a 75-run seventh-wicket stand with Mark Shaw who, unbeaten on 27, guided the Hawks to the win alongside Brown.

Simon Allan (3-54 off 21 overs) and Chris Egan (3-40 off 11) were the Combine's leading bowlers.

Egan nabbed two cruicial wickets on day one and claimed his third in the skipper Whittaker.

*Ballan ready to take on club first heavyweights in BCA Twenty20 Cup final on Sunday

GOLDEN POINT 8-284 d MOUNT CLEAR 203 at Eastern Oval

TOO HARD to catch, Golden Point clearly defended its tally for a stunning upset.

Powerhouse Mount Clear fell 81 runs short of matching the Pointies.

Things were looking a little shaky for the Mounties early on day two when Point ousted their first three batsmen for 55 runs.

Bailey Van De Heuvel was did the bulk of the damage claiming two scalps (Les Sandwith and Matt Goonan) before finishing the day 2-13 off six overs.

Mounties skipper Nathan Yates and seasoned bat Paull Jeffrey (28 runs) picked up the pieces in a 99-run stand by the fourth wicket, taking the Mounties tally to 154 runs.

Yates worked hard, belting nine fours and one six on his way to his 86 runs.

But there was no support through the middle order. 

Once Yates was gone at 7-186, the Mounties crumbled.

Pointies Dan White, who produced a strong half-century to bolster the lower-middle order on day one, struck hard with the ball to capture three wickets.

Andrew Warrick was ruthless, taking 3-26 off 17 overs (six maidens) and Pete Appleton, like Van De Heuvel, also nabbed two wickets.

WENDOUREE 9-194 d NAPOLEONS-SEBASTOPOL 163 at St Patrick's College

THIS was all about patience.

A slow outfield made for slow scoring as Napoleons-Sebastopol edged closer to Wendouree bit-by-bit, only to fall 31 runs short of the Red Caps.

Naps-Sebas started steadily with Neil Chalmers (29 runs) in a 38-run opening partnership with Matt Ringin, who lingered on while Nathan Doonan got started.

Doonan, who built 46 runs off 130 balls, was Naps-Sebas' top scorer. While the remaining order lacked any significant scorers, Naps-Sebas kept chipping.

So too, did the Red Caps.

Young Red Cap Austen Prendergast continued his good bowling form to take 3-48 off his 14 overs. Prendergast's haul was each of Naps' best performing batsmen in Doonan, Chalmers and Jacob Eyers (21 runs).

Red Cap star quick Eamon Johnson captured 2-49 in his first bowling appearance this season.

Jack Peeters proved pretty economic with 2-13 off seven overs while Sam Peters and Dylan Price also picked up a wicket apiece.

DARLEY 3-177 d CORONET CITY 41 and 122 at Ballarat High School

DARLEY got its outright win, which should make the Lions' push up ladder rankings interesting.

City resumed its second innings at 4-39 but captain Troy McCarthy took hold with the bat to reach 48 runs - agonisingly short of a half-century when he was caught out off a delivery from opposing skipper Matt Cape.

McCarthy was the last City wicket captured.

City lost its first two wickets of the day quickly and Dale Jeffrey's handy 19 runs helped saved a rapid collapse and gave McCarthy a starting block.

City's combined innings score of 161 was 12 runs short of the Lions' first batting effort on day one, in which captain Matt Cape made a century.

Lions Ryan Ali and Sajith Rupasingha took three wickets each - Ali had 3-9 off 15. 

Cape claimed 2-16 and Daniel Vakirevic had 2-37.

WHAT ELSE WE KNOW...

*NORTH BALLARAT was lingering on at the crease against Brown Hill. The Roosters were 9-156 at final drinks, still well short of the Bulls' 303 runs but forcing the Bulls to stay fielding in misty rain at Northern Oval.

Roosters' playing-coach Jason Crosbie and Brett Severino were the last men standing and serving up headaches to some sore looking Bulls.