The Roosters posted 284 runs on the board on day one, leaving the Bulls a sizeable challenge in its first match of the BCA season.

Eddy said after a 133-run opening partnership, it was hard not to make a score of 300-plus the goal, but it was not to be as the Brown Hill bowlers struck consistently from there on, nonetheless, this total will take some chasing.

“I’m really happy,” Eddy said.

“I’m pretty confident in our bowlers no matter what total we set.

“It’s pretty hard to keep up the momentum (after the opening stand) all day, but we’re close enough.”

Eddy identified Ryan and Jason Knowles as the two key scalps to victory.

The Bulls fielded a youthful side and the two Knowles boys provide a couple of calm heads among the young playing group.

The likes of Ash McCafferty, Prabath Priyankara and Matthew Zakynthinos did plenty of damage with the ball for the Roosters win round one and they will be hoping to again bowl their side to victory on Saturday at Wendouree West.

If North Ballarat can defend its total it will have two wins from the opening two fixtures, a great result for a side with ambitions of climbing the ladder.

MT CLEAR skipper Darcy Thomson forecast plenty of work in the nets for his group this week – and that’s what it got.

The Mounties will be in pursuit of Wendouree’s 307 on Saturday and are well-prepared after a dedicated week of training.

While on face value it looks like an intimidating score, both captains agreed it was simply a par total on the fast-paced, batsmen-friendly Mt Clear number two oval.

Mt Clear will need to wipe its memories clear of its last performance against Wendouree.

It has been a while since the two met, but in round five last year, the Mounties were bowled out for just 53 runs by the eventual premiers.

With fairly different squads, that should mean little, but perhaps the Red Caps will take confidence from such a display against some familiar faces.

Last week Wendouree skipper Gavin Webb said his side would have to bring a quality bowling effort if it was to deny a Mt Clear line-up with some potent batsmen.

It may be early in the season, but it is likely that these two sides will play a role come finals time and an early advantage in ladder position could be very beneficial. Victory for the Red Caps would mean wins over Darley and Mt Clear – a handy start.

DARLEY may return to the crease at 8-92 on Saturday, but there is a positive.

The Lions had a tough day at the office last weekend, it all started when a wicket fell on the first ball of the day after a delayed start to the match against Napoleons-Sebastopol.

Napoleons again claiming another victim on what is a very difficult place to score runs. However, if Darley lost a ninth wicket last week, it would have been innings over.

The Lions took a gamble by naming all-rounder Matthew Cape despite the knowledge he would not be available for week one. So while Naps-Sebas require just two wickets, and is clearly in the box seat, the man who walks out at number 11 will be no bunny.

Captain Michael Alexander said he was hopeful it would be able to add on another 50 or 60 runs to set the home side some sort of challenge.

“That was hard yakka last week,” Alexander said.

“We’re a little bit below par at the moment, hopefully we’re able to add 50-60 runs to that to make it a somewhat defendable total.”

If round one is anything to go by this game is far from over.

Naps-Sebas were bowled out for 93 in week one and East Ballarat tracked it down with six wickets in hand, but it took a grueling 42.1 overs to do so. This is a tough place to make runs.

EAST BALLARAT captain Josh Brown is keeping it simple ahead of its run chase against Golden Point this Saturday.

The Hawks require 261 runs for victory, but it could have been a whole lot less if it bowled better in the latter stages.

Golden Point all-rounder Andrew Warrick got ahold of the Hawks late in the innings, belting 88 runs off 66 deliveries to take the Pointies from 7-159, and looking like a sub-200 score, to 260 at the completion of the 80 overs.

Brown said while it was a higher total than they had hoped to chase after the position they had created, it was still a gettable target.

“Bat the 80 overs and we should get the result,” Brown said.

“They scored a bit higher than we expected midway through the innings.

“We thought we bowled alright, we won the first 65 overs, but they took the last 15...we could’ve bowled better to him (Warrick).”

In round one, East Ballarat produced a solid batting display, reeling in Napoleons-Sebastopol’s 93 runs with six wickets in hand, but it did take 42.1 overs. Granted Napoleons is a difficult place to make runs, but how these Hawks batsmen chase a bigger total is an unknown. Come Saturday it will be on a ground much more conducive to scoring. Brown felt getting away to a good start was important and once you got in it was a great wicket to bat on.