Greg Rummans was quick to identify what went awry in his Under 15s Far West side's underwhelming first innings on Wednesday morning.
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"We just didn't get off to a good enough start," Coach Rummans said, speaking after the U15's first game of the day.
His side batted second after the Illawarra Highlanders won the coin toss and struggled to match the numbers that the Highlanders put up in the earliest overs of the day.
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"We probably needed a little bit more out of our top five, it made it hard for the guys in the middle, we were giving kids an opportunity there, so we had blokes batting at the bottom who should have batted a bit higher in that sort of must-win circumstance."
The difficulty started when the Far West's first two batsmen were dismissed with just four runs between them and continued as the roster's mid-range batsmen struggled to make headway against the opposition's spin bowlers.
"We definitely blew the chase a little with our top five and it just made that a bit harder for our guys in the middle, Illawarra had a couple of really good spinners in their line-up."
Despite the overall result, going down 93 - 76 runs, Rummans remained proud of his side's effort, having closed the gap significantly by the time the final over was played and still having some of their best performers waiting to bat.
"We nearly got them though, I've got a good group, I'm happy with the out of towners, a couple in the top five just fell a bit short, but the bowling and fielding was really good, to restrict them to 93 in the end, was a good result, I was very happy with that part."
"We had an over and a bit to spare at the end, we were there, but we just fell short on those wickets in the middle against their spinners which is probably what cost us the game."
"There was some good spells, but we just didn't get the batting right, we'll be looking to pick that up against the ACT in the second round certainly."
While Rummans was happy with the team's effort overall, he singled out Jaxon Greenaway, who has recently returned from a broken leg for his bowling prowess, taking two much needed wickets with his first two balls.
Hugh Sienkiewicz, for his measure, performed well as wicket-keeper and Rummans says if he'd batted higher in the order, the result might have been different.
"He made 19 at the end with a very smart innings, with a partner he might have got us across the line," Rummans said.
The Under 13s also fell short in their first innings, going down 109 - 72 to the Highlanders under 13s after a spirited first three overs from the visitors.
The Under 15's gave a stronger account of themselves in their second round match with the ACT/SD Baron, but still fell short, trailing 89 - 88 in a nail-biting loss.
The Under 13s Far West side fell by just two runs in their second round loss to the ACT/SD Kings, despite a strong showing early in their batting order.
