The hosts were near-faultless, weathering an experienced bowling attack before suffocating the Horsham Cricket Association in the field, to secure a memorable 61-run win.

GCA captain Sam Cocks praised his side's collective effort.

"It was a good day. It was really enjoyable. We put together a complete performance. We were happy with where we ended up at the start of the day; we'd take around 170-odd to defend", he said.

The hosts opted to bat first and face the music of HCA's new-ball duo, Tony Caccaviello and Mohan Bandara.

Despite continually hitting good areas, HCA's bowlers couldn't unsettle Sam Cocks and Clayton Mackley.

Grampians' openers left well and pounced on any Horsham misstep to quietly rack up a 52-run opening stand.

"We knew coming in that they had a pretty strong bowling line-up, so we wanted to give ourselves a chance in the back end," Cocks said.

"We bat pretty deep, so if we have limited damage at the drinks break and had 50 or 60 on board, we knew we would be able to trudge on in the back 20."

Cocks would depart for 18, but Mackley continued his work, making the most of Central Park's short straight boundaries.

An electric Nic Baird (19) cameo warmed the crowd up for the big-hitting display that would soon come courtesy of Jarrod Blandford.

While Blandford lost Mackley (47), who went for the big shot one time too many, the Buangor-Tatyoon skipper shouldered his association's innings.

The left-hander upset all Horsham's bowlers, plundering 66 to help the hosts finish on 5/178.

"He's one of the quality batsmen of the group. So for him to be able to come out and play freely, and play his natural game really boded well for us," Cocks said.

Horsham's response got off to a shaky start, when a flurry of Nathan Alexander runs was quickly followed by his departure at the end of the first over.

Justtin Combe (30) and Matt Combe (13) played patient knocks, as they battled to manage a rising run rate with an accurate bowling performance.

HCA's co-captain, Matt Combe, would be the first to depart, having been strangled down the legside.

Two more wickets would follow in the space of two overs, as Grampians took their chances in the field and thanked the cricket gods, after an otherwise mundane delivery struck Justtin Combe and trickled back onto the stumps, dislodging the bails.

Despite a mountain of batting talent deep in the order, Horsham was never able to answer the hosts' intensity in the field.

Every Grampians bowler found their rhythm, and made the most of a pitch that rewarded a good line and length.

"Young Lachie (Dalkin) bowled really well at the start. He bowled his eight overs through, and we had a nice selection of quicks to go with," Cocks said.

"It was all about making it hard for them to score runs early and trying to jag a couple of wickets in the first 10 to 15 overs to make it really hard for them in the back end."

With big hitters still to bat, and the required rate meandering around 10 an over the Horsham supporters held some hope.

Though, the asking rate drew the HCA batsmen into risky shots, with the Grampians fielders happily taking the chances that came their way.

A flurry of late wickets at the end doused any dreams of a comeback for the ages, with the visitors left to limp through to 116 all out.

"With the way we're going with COVID and everything there's probably not going to be a lot of rep cricket around, so to be able to have a match with these guys down the road (was good)," Cocks said.

"I know we've played a few in the past, so hopefully we can make it a bit more of a regular occurrence."