SOUTH Dubbo flexed their Whitney Cup premiership muscles on Saturday, claiming the season's first outright win and moving top of the table in the process.
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The Hornets were well-placed against CYMS after a dominant day one and declared immediately with a lead of 101.
The Cougars then showed some resistance with the bat, staying at the crease for more than 50 overs before being dismissed for 157.
Some big hitting from Mitch Bower then wrapped up the win with relative ease.
"It's come at the right time," Souths' all-rounder Will Lindsay said of the outright win.
"All those teams at the top are around the same points so it's a good boost for us at the right time."
Lindsay and Bower both performed well across the two days but Hornets veteran John Colwell was the star, taking six wickets on Saturday and finishing with nine for the match.
His spin, accuracy and changes of pace made it difficult for the Cougars to get any kind of momentum early on after Lindsay and the returning Tim Berry went about building early pressure.
CYMS were reduced to 5-98 at one stage and then Berry returned to the attack to pick up the crucial wicket of captain Ryan Medley (28).
Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and Lindsay admitted the only time he felt concerned about his team's ability to knock over the Cougars was when Todd Summers, hampered by a hamstring injury, dug in late on.
"He looked rock solid and I thought that could have been a bit of a stumbling block," he said.
"He had a good defence and wasn't really looking to score with his injury and he finished not out."
Summers remained unbeaten on 17 while Colwell took the last wicket to finish with 6-34 from 19.1 overs while Berry finished with 2-27 from 11.
Souths lost Adam Wells (5), Mark O'Donnell (7) and Mat Finlay (1) in the pursuit of the 57 runs needed but Bower did not look like getting out as he smashed three sixes and four boundaries on his way to finishing unbeaten on 39.
"We were quite lucky to have Tim Berry, and John Colwell to an extent, still to bat and they're strokemakers but Mitch is just hitting them so clean," Lindsay said.
"He looks rock solid and that can be half the battle.
"He looks the most tight I've seen him in a good while and that stint with NSW Country has really helped him tighten up his game."
Next up for Souths, now the competition leaders and well-placed to claim the automatic grand final spot, is matches against Newtown and fellow contenders RSL-Colts.
"We're a club that almost just feels like a bunch of mates playing together and enjoying their cricket and we're playing for each other," Lindsay said.
"But the outright definitely came at a golden time and puts a bit of pressure on the others knowing we can take 20 wickets."