Tim Cox’s men went down by 29 runs against the Bluebags in Gerringong but Saunders said it was a great achievement from the side to push the 2011-12 premiers right to the end.

“Dubbo gets a bit of flack from other towns about poaching players and things like that but players want to be playing at the best level and the Dubbo side has evolved over the last few years and making it this far is a really good thing,” he said.

The match on Saturday was delayed by 45 minutes due to the overnight rain and, after winning the toss and bowling, Dubbo ripped through the Bluebags’ top order. However the 2011-12 winners recovered to post 8-174 from their 50 overs.

Dubbo were well in the hunt before the class of some of the Queanbeyan representative players came to the fore and Dubbo could only muster 145 in reply.

“I was talking to Tim before the match and with the wet wicket I thought if we could bowl first and bowl them out for about 150 or a bit below then we’d be really competitive but just that extra 30 or so runs made the difference,” Saunders said.

Former Western Zone representative Mick Curtale, who played against Dubbo on a number of occasions during his time with Cowra, helped salvage the Queanbeyan innings as he made 49 in the middle order after the Bluebags had fallen to 4-38 early on. 

Opening batsman and Canberra Comets player Dean Solway was the other standout as he top scored with 60 at the top of the order.

Skipper Cox was outstanding with the ball, taking 2-13 from 10 overs, as he picked up the key wicket of Mark Higgs for just three while Sydney Thunder player Blake Dean could only manage one before Ben Taylor struck.

“He’s had a few people knock him all throughout country cricket,” Saunders said of Cox. 

“But he knocked over a state player like Mark Higgs and with those figures he showed he still knows how to bowl at this level and his pressure also creates opportunities at the other end.”

Chasing 175 was always going to be a big ask against a side loaded with representative bowlers but after Ryan Medley fell early, Mitch Bower and Trent Colley took the score to 44. Then  Colley was caught and bowled by Higgs.

Wickets fell through the middle order and, when Bower departed for 30, the pressure was on the lower order. Jason Ryan made 22 and Ben Taylor 13 but it wasn’t enough and with 30 required from the last three overs the pressure was too much as Cox (1) and Tharindu Perera (5) fell to hand the Bluebags victory.

Despite exiting after the first day of the finals carnival, Saunders backed the side to succeed again next season - assuming they can hold on to some of their talented young players.

“I’m not originally from the country but I think the country program is great for young players and I’d like to see them stay a bit longer rather then be dragged to Sydney,” he said. 

“Unless they’re going for uni or full-time work I think, for young guys, bowling down the other end from someone like Tim Cox is just about the best form of coaching you can get.”