BOTTOM side Bendigo is well placed to win its third game of the Bendigo Bank Bendigo District Cricket Association season after dominating against White Hills at the Queen Elizabeth Oval on Saturday.Still in the mix for fourth spot, the Demons produced a disappointing batting performance to be bowled out inside 50 overs for 169 as the Goers’ decision to bowl first reaped rewardsAnd the Goers are almost halfway to their target as they went to stumps at 2-83.The star with the ball for the Goers was captain Hayden Polglase, whose fine season continued. GALLERY: Bendigo sport action February 11-12Polglase claimed 5-46 off 15 overs, during which he dismantled the Demons’ top-order.Opening the bowling, Polglase took the first four wickets to fall – Darren Gregory (5), Gavin Bowles (2), Michael Hanson (25) and Ben Gardner (3) – to leave the Demons 4-46.At that stage Polglase had figures of 4-14 off eight overs.White Hills later fell to 8-112 in the 34th over, but the Goers took 62 minutes to claim the last two wickets, which added 57, mainly through the work of top-scorer Daniel Larke (60 off 96, 11 fours) and No.10 Travis Colley (23 off 29).Larke was aggressive from early in his innings, with seven of his first eight scoring shots boundaries.The Demons gave themselves an early chance with the ball when they had the Goers 2-31 after nine overs, with Colley (2-24) dismissing openers Michael Hill (12) and Marcus McKern (13).However, Polglase (32 n.o.) and John Howorth (20 n.o.) saw the Goers through to stumps.? Golden Square made 9-243 against Bendigo United in the battle for second spot at MyJet Oval.Openers Scott Johnson and Alex Code laid the foundation for the total with a 130-run opening stand that lasted 165 minutes.The pair batted together until 11 overs after tea when the Redbacks finally got their first wicket when Johnson (45 off 162) was removed by Patrick Naughtin (1-54).Code fell five overs later to Nick Crawford (1-50) for a well-made 81 – his highest first XI score.The 19-year-old endured a tough start to the season in the first XI with scores of 8, 2, 17, 0 and 0 in his first five innings, after which he went back to the second XI.But since his return to the first XI, Code has made scores of 49, 30 and 81.Having been on the backfoot, the Redbacks fought back well with the ball, later claiming 6-37 as Square went from 3-206 to 9-243, with the wickets tumbling after the dismissal of David Hickman (35 off 56).Marcus Smalley was the pick of the Redbacks’ bowlers, claiming four wickets for the second game in a row as he took 4-44 off 13 overs.? Kangaroo Flat posted 210 against reigning premier Strathdale-Maristians at Dower Park.All of the Roos’ top-six batsmen got starts, which helped get the side into a strong position of 4-172 in the 65th over to set up a chance to make around 250.But the Suns hit back well as they claimed 6-38 to bowl the Roos out in the last over.The best of the Kangaroo Flat batsmen were captain Adam Burns (48 off 117, six fours), Tim Robertson (39 off 122, six fours), opener Andrew Hosking (36 off 82, seven fours) and Lachlan Shelton (28 off 41).Hosking was given an early life when he was superbly caught one-handed by Jonathan Davidson at short-leg off a Ben DeAraugo (2-34) no-ball.It was a young Kangaroo Flat top-order, with three of the first four batsmen – Josh Newlan (15), Darcy Geyer (13) and Shelton – all aged under 21.Off-spinner Dom Taylor returned the best figures for the Suns with 4-27 off 14 overs, while fellow spinner Craig Howard took 2-43 off 21.? Eaglehawk has opener Jason Abbott to thank for its score of 8-230 against Strathfieldsaye at Tannery Lane.Abbott held the Hawks’ innings together in making 87 as he batted for 75 overs.It was slow going early as the Jets kept Abbott and Shane Herdman tied down.The Hawks scored just 18 runs off the first 20 overs as Lachlan Ross (three runs off first five overs), Chris Cullen (eight runs off first 10 overs) and Ben Devanny (nine runs off first seven overs) kept the pressure on.While the runs were hard to come by, the Jets didn’t get their first wicket until the 41st over when Herdman (29 off 131) was caught by Ben Gunn at gully off Ross (1-17) with the score on 76, before Strathfieldsaye soon after picked up Cameron McGlashan (1), stand-in captain Matt White (5) and Andrew Smith (14) in the next 10 overs to leave Eaglehawk 4-106.Abbott’s innings finally ended when he was caught by wicket-keeper Greg Lyon off Cullen with the score on 189 as he was once again denied a century.Abbot – who now has 457 runs for the season – faced 194 balls and hit three boundaries and two sixes.Sam Walker (20), Cory Jacobs (25), Jonathan Andrea (19 n.o.) and Richard Tibbett (17 n.o.) all contributed valuable runs in the middle and lower-order for the Hawks.Cullen (3-56) – playing his first game in the first XI for five seasons – and spinner Liam Smith (3-48) took three wickets each for the fifth-placed Jets.? Meanwhile, Bendigo’s Melbourne Country Week campaign starts today against Murray Valley at the Coburg City Oval.Bendigo squad: Adam Burns (c), Andrew Chalkley, Jonathan Davidson, Ben DeAraugo, Brent Hamblin, Linton Jacobs, Sam Johnston, Aaron Monro, Brad Orton, Miggy Podosky, Cameron Taylor, Dom Taylor, Richard Tibbett.