Dubbo have dealt Wellington a narrow loss in a nail-biter played out at Pioneer Oval to maintain control of the Brewery Shield leaderboard for another round.
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The visitors managed to put a stop to Wellington's run chase just short of being overtaken, with only two runs separating the two sides by the game's end in a match-up that decided the shape the Brewery Shield's finals series will take on
Dubbo won the toss and elected to bat first, spurring their side to a total of 126/10 that the hosts doggedly chased, but fell short of of overcoming, finishing up on 124/10.
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Dubbo's innings started slow, with opening batsman Heath Larance sent for a duck by Mitchell Preston.
The scoring didn't begin in earnest until Nate Ambler chipped in with 22 runs, and continued unevenly until Dale O'Donnell (30) and Mitch Lincoln (30) formed a closing partnership to keep the tail wagging.
Wellington's run-chase started in similar conditions, with Mitchell Preston being repaid for his earlier efforts with the ball with a duck of his own at the hands of Dale O'Donnell.
Wellington skipper Bailey Preston (23) and Dan McCallum (14) put up the first runs for the hometown team, with Brad Johnson following with 25 runs before being caught by Nate Ambler.
Nick Redfern piled on 16 more runs before being struck LBW, before vice captain Cody Hannelly (27) dug in and made the most of his late offering.
Wellingtons string of late runs where brought to an end with some late heroics from Dale O'Donnell (3/16), who bowled Kyle Nonnemacher for six runs with the game in the balance, then took the wickets of Matthew Ripps and Lewis McCarthy for two ducks.
The victory keeps Dubbo's unbeaten streak alive through four games, with Wellington slipping out of finals contention and into fourth place with the loss.
Dubbo, who now sit firmly atop the ladder in the Macquarie Valley Brewery Shield, will receive a bye heading into the finals, while Cobar will host Narromine in the semi-finals round after the Narromine side scored a victory over their Nyngan rivals to leap-frog into third place.