The CYMS Cougars have surged to the top spot in the RSL Whitney Cup following a lop-sided victory over defending premiers the Newtown Tigers.
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The empthatic win came on the back of a strong bowling attack by skipper Ben Knaggs in last weekend's first day of play where CYMS kept Newtown restricted to 138 runs across 64 overs.
"Having Brock [Larance] at the other end - he took four wickets himself - was a huge help, bowling in those partnerships and keeping that pressure on, that's where we really perform, so if we can keep doing that, we'll be good," Knaggs said.
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Knaggs took five wickets for 41 runs in that performance and set the stage for young gun batsman Tom Coady to close out the show with a peerless batting performance.
Coady opened the account with ten runs during the start of CYMS' innings on day one and was bracketed by Lachlan Strachan and Bailey Edmunds, who went for 11 runs between them.
The wicketkeeper-batsman - who represented Australia in last year's under 15s side - fired often and early to pile on the runs, earning his first century since joining CYMS' first grade side and finishing on 102 not out.
The successful century came at the perfect time for CYMS, with captain Ben Knaggs noting how close Coady had come to hitting the total earlier in the season.
"It was quite a performance from him, he's been working at it for a long time, he's had a lot of those sixty, seventy plus scores this season, but it was a really great, patient innings from him," Knaggs said.
"He really put Newtown on the back foot and played a positive innings, it just goes to show how much talent he's got."
The raft of young talent has been a big boost for CYMS this year, with both Brock Larance and Tom Coady standing out as strong, young performers with bright futures ahead.
"There's so many good young people coming through CYMS at the moment, it really shows how much talent is in Dubbo and the club right now, the juniors have been really strong this year, Tom and Brock'll be around for another couple of years before they go to Sydney, which is great for us," Knaggs said.
Gilbert Chaseling added on another 15 runs as part of the pairing with Coady, passing Newtown's total of 138 with five fewer overs.
The result puts CYMS ahead of Macquarie on the ladder heading into the final round against RSL Colts.
"All the boys know how important that next game is against RSL, if we can win, that'd be unreal, last year they beat us in the semi-final and it was really heartbreaking for the boys after working so hard," Knaggs said.
"This year we know how different that finals cricket is and we're ready."
On Victoria Park's second oval on Saturday, the RSL Colts compounded last week's stunning batting innings, by constraining an under pressure Macquarie to just 93 runs.
The strong result proved valuable for Marty Jeffrey's RSL Colts, who took out a bonus points win over the form team to beat this season.
Ben Taylor took the lion's share of the wickets for Colt, going 5 - 27 and blunting Macquarie's opening batsman to constrain their chase.
Macquarie veteran Jason Green was struck LBW after seven runs in a wicket that proved pivotal, with only Angus Cusack (38, not out) and Hugh Sienkiewicz (13) putting up double digits during the defeat.
Tim Howarth also put numbers on the board for RSL Colts, taking three tail-end wickets of Kieran Brien, Luke Carman and Joe Haylock in rapid sequence and preventing a late fight-back from allowing Macquarie any reprieve.
The result will boost the RSL Colt's chances and provide the up and down side with momentum as they head into a huge two-day showdown with the newly crowned ladder-leading CYMS Cougars when the final round begins on March 7.
While Macquarie will be impossible to displace from a final's fixture, the under strength but in form side will need to lift in the next round.
There they will be taking on Dubbo Rugby in order to determine whether they will end the season as minor premiers ahead of CYMS or have to battle through the semi-final to ensure the Whitney Cup title doesn't slip out of their grasp at the last moment.