A mistake from CYMS nearly caused chaos in the RSL-Pinnington Cup but after plenty of calculations there is no change to the second grade finals picture.
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The Cougars were forced to forfeit their final round win over Macquarie after one player spent the first week of the two-day match in first grade, only to drop back to twos on Saturday.
That is only allowed in a case where teams are forced to make changes due to representative commitments and as that wasn’t thew case for CYMS, the Cougars 157-run win over Macquarie came to nothing.
Macquarie, going into the final round in fourth, were given all 12 points and that put them level on points with RSL-Colts and Newtown, who beat Rugby and South Dubbo respectively in the final round.
It came down to net run-rate but Colts, who would have been third if CYMS had won anyway, stayed in third and moved through to the finals.
The points loss also didn’t cause CYMS to miss out on the minor premiership and the Cougars still advance straight through to the decider.
“Thankfully, from an administrative point of view, nothing changes,” Dubbo and District Cricket Association president Jeff Shanks said.
In CYMS’ match, where the Cougars were defending 7/259, Macquarie lost Joe Haylock (9) early before reaching 1/53.
Cody Hannelly (24) and Ian Marchant (20) had started to rebuild things but they soon became part of an epic collapse.
The Blues lost an incredible five wickets for six runs as they slumped to 6/59.
Callan Braithwaite (3/12) did the bulk of the damage while Blake Watmore (2/19) and Sam Knaggs (1/22) also chipped in.
The Cougars rolled on from there and dismissed for Macquarie for 102.
Lochie Endacott (2/4) chimed in late to help the Cougars seal, what people thought at the time, was a massive victory.
Colts started day two in total control against Rugby and got the job done with relative ease.
After rolling Rugby for 113 on day and then reaching 3/76 at stumps, Colts were red-hot favourites to seal a convincing and quotient-boosting victory.
Things didn’t begin perfectly as Mitch Ashford (4) fell to Adam Richards (2/38).
Josh Smith (12) and Nathan Finlay (11) got their side within reach and while both were dismissed, the men in red won with ease to seal third spot.
The final match of the round saw Newtown do everything it could to make the finals.
The Tigers restricted second-placed South Dubbo to 9/170 on day one and started the day in search of a quick victory in order to boost their quotient and overhaul Colts.
It wasn’t an ideal start for Newtown as Greg Kerr (6), Lachlan Reid (17) and Richie Flinn (1) fell to have the score 3/36.
Andrew Cusack (2/21) had Souths right on top but Dwayne Kent (24) helped rebuild things.
He became the first victim of Joe Cant (4/47) and while the Souths youngster continued to work through the Tigers lineup, Mat Skinner soon warmed into the run chase.
Skinner, still on his way back to full fitness after knee surgery, belted 55 to help his side score a first innings win and the Tigers declared at 7/166.
Newtown went in search of quick wickets to further boost their finals chances but Souths, led by Cameron Herd’s 38, finished at 1/82 at stumps.
Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
