THE glass is always half full at Ringwood, even when it has to chase 366.
The Rams had a torrid day in the field at Jubilee Park on Saturday as Footscray-Edgewater posted 3-366 from 90 overs. Openers Wes Robinson (161) and Dean Russ (108) put on 259 for the first wicket.
Their efforts were slightly curtailed in the final session when both players were dismissed, wickets which gave Rams playing coach Gavin Kellar some solace.
‘‘It was a tough day but they played extremely well; those two openers batted very well and we did a lot of learning from the day,’’ Kellar said.
‘‘Early in the day they were 0-30 from 20 or so overs but instead of staying patient we started to bowl out of our zones and chased wickets a bit and they got a few boundaries and seized the momentum.
‘‘From there we were behind the eight-ball for the rest of the day but to our credit, we were looking at 400-450 at one stage, yet the boys really did fight hard late in the day to keep the score down.’’
Kellar also said the Rams were unable to conjure a wicket after several close calls, especially early in play.
‘‘To get a score like that you need some luck, the ball landed wide of our fielders by a metre here and a metre there but to their credit they outlasted us.’’
Rams spinner Pat Ashton took 2-82 from 16 overs while paceman Michael Topp had 1-48 from 18 overs, but in Kellar’s eyes he bowled four good spells.
‘‘Some days you bowl well and don’t take wickets, he had one of those days,’’ Kellar said.
The Rams will need around four runs per over to chase down the total when play resumes this Saturday.
Kellar said his side would take a positive attitude into the game. ‘‘You have got to go in positive,’’ he said.
‘‘Hopefully we get to tea with only two or three wickets down and then we will be in position to chase it.
‘‘It’s a good opportunity to get some batting time; we need four runs an over so if we can get some good partnerships you never know what can happen.’’