by Samuel Laffy
On a weekend marred by inclement weather there was precious little cricket played across the WDCA, but division one saw two contests completed, with Hallora Recreation Reserve and Bellbird Park able to cope with the morning's deluge and enable play to resume.

Those teams that were able to secure victory on the first day's play found themselves happily watching as the rain fell, whilst others in the association were forced to split the points.
Western Park (106) def. Drouin (100)
One of the more hard-fought rivalries in the WDCA had another nail biting chapter added to the compendium, with Western Park snatching a six-run win over Drouin on the back of yet another superhuman performance from Jason Croft.
Although the conditions meant that an immediate start was out of the question, both teams were keen to see play underway – particularly with the Hawks and Warriors viewing each other as likely finals opponents later in the summer, and the chance to secure a slight edge over the other too good an offer to refuse.
As it was, play resumed with Drouin 4/53 in pursuit of 106.
Gamini Kumara was still at the crease and adopted a watchful approach at first, perhaps recognising his own importance to his side's chances of winning – although at various stages he looked to free the arms and accelerate scoring.
Worryingly for the Hawks however, Jason Croft – as has been his wont throughout the season to date – quickly settled into rhythm, and his much-lauded ability to apply pressure and force the batsmen into playing at almost every delivery was on full display.
Despite this, Drouin added 24 runs without loss in the early part of the day's play to put themselves in a position of power at 4/77.
It was here that Croft (who finished with the incredible figures of 7/29 from 24 overs) grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. Breaching Troy Lehman's defences, he then induced an edge to dismiss Dana Fernando for a golden duck and not long after snared the scalp of Kumara, with Jack Armour hauling in an exceptional catch to send the Hawk's talisman on his way for 27.
Jarrod Saw (6* from 53) and James Wilcock (12) added a gritty 18 for the eighth wicket to bring Drouin within touching distance of their target, but just when the home crowd began to believe – knowing victory was just two hits away – the Warriors struck again.
Ben Clarke (2/4 from 8) had Wilcock caught at short fine leg and the next over Croft trapped Paul Timewell plumb in front.
Dot ball after dot ball was delivered as Drouin desperately waited for anything loose, but the release never came, and Clarke caught the edge of Brad Glover's bat to the delight of the Western Park faithful, the Hawks dismissed for 100.
Note: for those in the local area keen to witness high quality local cricket, the two sides meet again in round 11 (on January 18), a day supporters of both sides should lock away in their calendars.
Hallora (5/113) def. Catani (110)
Whilst not quite as nerve-wracking a finish as the Western Park vs Drouin encounter, Hallora nonetheless claimed a crucial victory over Catani in their round seven clash, with the Kangaroos season well and truly back on track after some wobbles in the early rounds.
Resuming at 2/78, Hallora quickly found themselves on the back foot, with the Cats' attack making use of the overhead conditions, extracting extravagant movement with the Kookaburra and making life difficult for the batsmen.
Fraser Duncan was the first to go on day two – looking to glide Daniel Glover down to third man but succeeding only in offering a simple chance to Catani wicketkeeper Ned Harrison – and Ethan Guest departed the same over, with a rash cut stroke picking out Daniel Vela at gully.
Glover (who snared 3/18 from 9.2 overs) looked ready to run riot through the middle and lower order, and was ably supported by the likes of Raheem Kasser (0/10 from 8) and Riley McDonald (1/29 off 13), but unfortunately for Catani they weren't able to induce any false strokes from Andrew Donohue.
The Halloran batter fought back against the tight bowling, working singles and twos – and the odd boundary – to quickly move towards the target.
Donohue's 53* was without a doubt the difference between the two sides, with his first half century for the summer helping the Kangaroos through to 5/113 and victory in the 43rd over.