An assessment that counterpart Darcy Thomson agreed with given the batsmen-friendly oval that is Mt Clear’s number two deck.

The synthetic surface, fast outfield and short square boundaries make the oval a batting paradise if you can establish yourself.

The Red Caps did exactly that as Cole Roscholler (33 runs) and Ryan Simmonds (61 runs) put on 81 for the opening stand, four other men went on to exceed 25, but none could cash in for a huge score – Matthew Smith (63 runs) the top-scorer.

Webb felt at times his side was in a position to go well beyond 300 and conceded an ideal total would have been around the 350-mark. Nonetheless, the runs are on the board and Wendouree could be a quality bowling performance away from another victory.

“It’s probably a par score to be honest,” Webb said.

“A lot of guys got starts...ideally if one bloke really goes on we could’ve made a bit more, but credit to them (Mt Clear) they bowled really well.

“We’ll need everyone of those runs, no doubt – it’s very hard to defend on that ground.

“We’ll have to bowl very well, but in saying that, they’ll have to bat very well to get those runs – but ideally we’d like a few more.”

Thomson felt the total would take a strong batting effort to track down, but said it was definitely doable.

He said a thorough week in the nets was on the cards for the Mounties XI to get over the line of the reigning premiers. But ultimately, he felt it would come down to the simple philosophy of bat versus ball.

“If we get a few guys set, hopefully they can go on.

“Out there, once you get a start, you should be able to capitalise.

“I think it’s pretty even at this stage. If they bowl well, it’ll be hard for us, but if we bat well we should do it.

“So we’re going to work hard this week in the nets and come out confident next week.”