MARGARET RIVER Hawks and YOBS gave themselves some Christmas cheer when they both scored strong victories in the last round of A-Grade cricket before the brief Christmas/New Year break.
Batting first at Gloucester Park, Hawks amassed 233 against Dunsborough before being bowled out on the final ball of their 50 th over.
Dunsborough fought hard in reply before being dismissed for 154.
Meanwhile at Barnard Park, St Marys could not get going after losing four early wickets against YOBS and were bowled out for only 118 in 39 overs.
YOBS lost three wickets in their reply before passing Saints' score in just the 29 th over.
Hawks owed their excellent total at Margaret River to an attacking 84 from opener Chris McLean, who brought up his 50 in just the 10 th over.
It took some tight bowling from Dunsborough's Nathan Whitney and Ryan Martin, who shared four wickets between them, and a wily 10-over spell by spinner Shane Edwards, to rein in the Hawks middle-order after the total looked like being around 300.
Hawks showed plenty of depth in their bowling, with teenage spinner Jaiah Moore taking three scalps, including a wicket (caught and bowled) with only his second ball in A-Grade cricket.
Stand-in captain Grant Garstone led from the front for Hawks with four wickets.
At Barnard Park, St Marys captain Danny Hatton opened the innings but lost his wicket in only the second over, top-edging a simple catch.
To compound matters, Hatton strained a calf muscle which prevented him from fielding.
The loss of Joe Lowe for a duck, Marc Ford and Nick Ritchie saw Saints teetering at 4-20 before Jono Lloyd (25) and James Courtney-Bennett (26) mounted a rescue mission and took the total to 70 before further wickets fell.
A talking point arose late in the Saints innings when an unsuccessful bid to run an overthrow, after the ball hit the batsman, resulted in a run out.
Matt Connaughton (an economical 2-13 off 8.1 overs), Matty Braid (3-23) and first gamer Phill Senekal (2-33) were the best bowlers for YOBS.
Chasing 119 for victory, YOBS welcomed back club life member Simon Godridge (22 runs) for a rare appearance.
Good sportsmanship was displayed by No. 3 batsman Tait Spowart after a ball was deflected by keeper Kurt Davis's pads on to the stumps, with Spowart out of his ground.
When the square leg umpire ruled he was unable to make a decision, Spowart (still on 0) tucked his bat under his arm and walked from the field, out stumped.
Harvey Golding (40) set the scene before Nayton Colombera and debutant David MacLeay, the son of Australian World Cup representative Ken MacLeay, took YOBS to victory.
The annual Hally Cup, played between Vasse and Cowaramup, took centre stage in B-Grade and C-Grade cricket.
The B-Grade game at Barnard Park saw Vasse hit 179 in 44 overs before Cowaramup overtook the total by making 5-181 in 43 overs.
The C-Grade game at nearby Churchill Park saw the result reversed, with Cowaramup bowled out for 109 (Alex Cooke continuing his great form with 44 runs) and Vasse scoring the winning runs in the 29 th over.
In other B-Grade games, St Marys rolled YOBS for 135 on the turf at Bovell Park, with Justin Gower grabbing great figures of 5-20. Saints responded by winning the game with just two wickets to spare in the 35 th over of their reply.
At Margaret River, a sterling knock of 83 not out by opener Al Wilkie was responsible for Hawks overtaking Dunsborough's score of 8-153, with three overs to spare.
In C-Grade cricket the closest win possible took place at Churchill Park, with YOBS scoring 6-142 from 40 overs and Saints scraping home with 9-143, winning the game off the final ball of their 40 th over.
Dunsborough got up to beat Hawks at the Nippers Oval, with Hawks scoring 4-171 and Dunsborough then responding with 2-173 off 33 overs, with Chris Dudley hitting an outstanding 95 not out.