WESTS captain James King admits the Rosellas are "where we want to be" but an injury to representative all-rounder Aaron Wivell was the only gloss off a dominant display from the unbeaten competition leaders.
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King was pleased with the performance of his Tom Locker Cup champions, minus Wivell on Saturday, recording an outright victory over the Sea Dragons at University Oval and establishing a nine-point lead on top of the Newcastle District Cricket Association ladder.
"We're sitting where we want to be," King said.
"It's good going into Christmas, but we've got Belmont [third] next and that will be a good game. Wiv is the only concern with an injury."
Wivell underwent surgery for a broken finger on his right hand last week, having gone for scans after suffering a knock at last weekend's NSW Country titles.
King expects the top-order batsman and off-spinner, who didn't field against University on day two, to return after Christmas.
Wests, who scored 182 on day one, only allowed Uni to add 13 runs for their final two wickets after resuming at 8-35. The Sea Dragons were asked to bat again and were all out for 144. The Rosellas finished off the job at 0-11 with almost 30 overs to spare.
Elsewhere in round seven and Hamilton-Wickham also secured maximum points with minimum fuss, defeating Cardiff-Boolaroo by 10 wickets at Pasterfield Sports Complex.
Hamwicks began at 3-90, just 17 runs behind CBs (107), and were eventually dismissed for 173. The hosts were then bundled out for 99 in reply and the Pumas quickly reached 0-34. Visiting seamer Ted Bartlett claimed match figures of 7-36, featuring 5-21 in the second dig.
Hamwicks jump to second on the overall standings. CBs remain last and have suffered back-to-back outright losses.
Belmont pushed for an extra result against Stockton at Cahill Oval, falling just three wickets short after clinching first-innings points and enforcing the follow on.
Defending 195, Belmont took 7-43, including spells of 3-0 and 2-0, in skittling the Seagulls for 70. They had started at 3-27. In the second dig, Stockton ended up 7-92 from 59 overs and now slide from fourth to sixth.
Merewether narrowly missed points in both innings at Learmonth Park, losing to City by nine runs in the first and having the home side nine wickets down in the second.
Resuming one shy of Merewether's 133, City lost their last two wickets while making 10 runs. The Lions made 5-220 from 41 overs before declaring. The Sabres were 9-88 at stumps.
Charlestown beat Waratah-Mayfield by 97 runs at Kahibah Oval, successfully defending 232 by bowling out the visitors for 135.
LADDER: Wests 43; Hamwicks 34; Belmont 33; Wallsend 28; Charlestown 25; Stockton 24; City 22; Toronto, Waratah-Mayfield 19; Merewether 18; University 13; Cardiff-Boolaroo 3.
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Josh Callinan
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
