Cooper Brien's knock of 60 allowed Western to post a competitive total of 172 in the opening clash of the under 18s tournament at George Park 1, but Newcastle were able to chase down the target in the 49^th over with four wickets in hand.

Western coach Garth Dean said several crucial moments of poor play would prove the difference.

"We lost our wickets in two clumps - three early ones and then 4-1 later on. We were heading comfortably for about 210 or 220 but those four wickets took us from 5-151 to 9-151, and we weren't able to bat out our overs," he said.

"We actually bowled okay. We had a lot of wicket balls and opportunities but in between that we leaked a lot of runs. We got ourselves pretty much back on top at one stage but when their run rate started to climb we dropped a couple of opportunities at a crucial time."

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Western needed every bit of their batting depth that they could muster after a very shaky start to their innings.

Newcastle won the toss and sent Western in to bat, and the visitors would have been feeling extra pleased with that decision after the way the first few overs went.

They had Western's Mikey McNamara (6), Harry Bayliss (1) and Tom Coady (1) all out cheaply to make it 3-13.

Brien and Mac Webster (34) restored some much needed confidence to the Western ranks with their patient efforts as they put on 69 runs for the fifth wicket.

Anthony Atlee (23) continued the stubborn middle order resistance for the hosts before his dismissal sent the Western innings into a downward spiral.

Western lost 4-1 to leave them 9-151, with Newcastle's James Burke on a hat trick at one point.

Lawson Shepherd (11 not out) and Patrick Nelson's (7) defiant 21 run stand for the last wicket gave the boys in navy and red something to be proud about before heading on to the field.

Zach Stanbridge (3-38) was the pick of the Newcastle bowlers - claiming the big wickets of McNamara and Coady - while also assisting the run out of Nelson to end the innings.

It took Western just five deliveries to strike gold during the Newcastle chase.

On his home city wicket Angus Parsons got the wicket of Finlay Thornton (0) to give the hosts an early edge.

Newcastle skipper and remaining opener Joseph Gillard (20) and Patrick Holding (34) saw the ball well to avoid the top order dramas that had plagued their opponents earlier in the day.

Gillard was caught off the bowling of Webster and new batsman Elijah Smith (4) departed shortly after at the hands of Will Skinner to put the hosts in a decent position.

Western will have then felt they would have had the upper hand when Skinner struck again to remove Holding.

Skinner finished with figures of 2-12 from his first four overs.

However, a 61-run partnership between Bailey Creer (52 not out) and Harrison Allomes (30) put Newcastle back into control of the game.

Home-city player Ryan was ultra economical for Western with figures of 0-20 through his eight overs.

"Cooper [Brien] was good with the bat, because it was a bit tricky early," Dean said, looking at his side's performances.

"All the bowlers had their moments. I'd say Jacob [Ryan] was the pick of them. He bowled all eight straight for not many. Will Skinner was good early and Mac Webster always puts in, and that's why he was bowling right at the end."

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