THE promotion of Wagga RSL fast bowler John Hoey up the batting order paid dividends to guide the Bulldogs to an all-important win over Kooringal at the weekend.
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Hoey opened the batting for the second match in a row and smashed a classy 91 off 112 balls before being caught out on Saturday at Rawlings Park.
His knock proved the difference as RSL cruised to an 87-run victory.
Hoey was elevated to the top of the order just before the Christmas break, after posting a 55 not out against the Colts in round 5.
He has now compiled 156 runs from five innings and averages 52 for the season.
Stand-in Bulldogs captain Will Silver couldn't speak highly enough of Hoey's innings.
"John batted exceptionally well," Silver said.
"Most of his runs were hit out of the middle of his bat, and for a while there he was going boundary for boundary.
"It's as good as I've ever seen Johnny bat and I think most people would agree with me there."
Hoey combined with Silver (42) to post a 96-run partnership in the middle order as the Bulldogs played their way to 5-185 on Saturday.
They then bowled Koorignal out in the 32nd over for just 98 as Hoey, Sam Watt and Tim Cameron all took multiple wickets.
Cameron provided a highlight for the match when he claimed a hat-trick, taking the wickets of Sam Whitfield, Jeremy Bunn and Ray Stephens in consecutive balls.
"It doesn't happen very often and when it did the boys were all pretty excited," Silver said.
"I reckon it was the best I've seen Tim bowl in four or five years.
"But it was a good team performance, everyone did their bit."
Both Wagga RSL and Kooringal remain in a battle to make the competition top four and secure a spot in finals.
With two wins on the trot, Silver says the morale around the Bulldogs camp is high.
"We finished last year off with a win and to get another one yesterday (Saturday), the boys are pretty stoked," he said.
"Yesterday was a must-win game but we are still coming last so we've got plenty of work to do."
RSL should be bolstered this week by the return of captain Dan Oakley and star all-rounder Luke Oakley, who has been sidelined with a finger injury for most of the season.
Silver expects to take the gloves back off Todd Henderson after palming off the wicketkeeping duties to have a bowl on Saturday.
Silver took the last wicket of the game to have figures of 1-0 off two balls.