A resurgent South Dubbo Hornets side have shown there's still plenty of danger to be found in the final stretch of the RSL-Whitney Cup competition.
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The last-placed Hornets, who sit just behind Rugby Cricket Club on the competition ladder and are outside of contention for the finals, pulled together a stoic batting performance to spoil Macquarie's weekend.
While captain Angus Norton nursed a hand injury that saw him sidelined for the weekend's clash, he was thrilled to see his side author a win over one of the competition's most consistent teams.
"It was really good for the lads to get a win, and it was really good to see a few familiar faces back," Norton said.
One of those faces, Mat Finlay, provided a bedrock for a successful South's stand, swatting 12 balls to the boundary en-route to a total of 88 before being caught by Will Skinner.
"Mat Finlay was back in there with the bat and it was great to have him in the mix in there, he had a really great turn," Norton said.
"He's a class player and he really showed that ability on Saturday."
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Ted Murray (21) and Michael McCarthy (25) were the next highest contributors, but the bulk of the work for Souths was done out across the green, with some exemplary fielding capitalising on Macquarie's need to chase down the Hornet's total of 7/186.
Four run outs spread throughout the Macquarie innings cost a number of scoring opportunities, including the wicket of Ben Strachan, while veteran openers Jason Green and Myles Smith both departed for 11 after being caught and bowled respectively.
"Rudy Peet got a run out in there and Lachlan Rummans did a great job with the ball as well," Norton said of his side's measured bowling attack.
"Ted Murray came in at the end and him and Adam Wells, they really tightened the screws to close it out and put the finishing touches on for us."
While the Hornets are unlikely to feature in the mix come finals time, with only eight rounds left to play and a 23 point gap separating them from the tangle at the top of the ladder, Norton says his side are in good spirits and sharing in the camaraderie heading into the last stretch.
"We're not so fussed about how things play out, we're focused on ourselves and building up to next year," Norton said.
"I don't think it's a matter of us gelling any better or anything like that, we've always got on pretty well, I think right now we're seeing a lot of those younger guys, like Lachlan Rummans, they're really starting to find their feet in first grade."
The Hornets will have their work cut out for them next week, as they'll take on the RSL Colts.