But the lone Dubbo junior in the Country Lions under 14s side made up for that during Tuesday's opening Twenty20 match to help get his side on the board.

Giddings' 30 from 26 balls at the top of the order, combined with Cooper Stephen's 39 from 37 balls, helped the Lions post 7/130 and that proved enough as a strong all-round bowling performance restricted the Country Scorpions to 6/80 in reply.

It was a welcome return to form for the Lions, after they suffered a heavy seven-wicket loss to the Sydney Stallions on Monday.

"I was pleased for all of them because sometimes when you have a loss like we did yesterday it can be hard to bounce back," coach Greg McLay said after Tuesday's win.

"But we moved on quick. I told the boys every team has a stinker in them and we just got ours out of the way early.

"Today was more of a reflection of where this team is at. They're a very good outfit and there's some good players."

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Giddings is one of those and the RSL-Colts youngster had to tough it out early after he lost opening partner Toby Middleton (5) when the score was just 10.

But he and Stephen soon began to get things moving and in an attacking 56-run partnership they set the platform for the win.

"With the batting we showed more intent. There was a real mindset there and it was clear and that set the tone," McLay said.

"Cooper Giddings was very impressive today. He played straight early and waited until he was in and then he capitalised on any loose stuff."

While Giddings and Bathurst junior Stephen were both dismissed by Tyler McInnes (2/13) the Lions were still able to post a competitive total.

It proved to be more than enough after first change bowler Noah Orchard entered the attack and took three wickets without conceding a run in his first over to leave the Stingrays reeling at 5/25.

From there the scoreboard pressure was too much and Stephen (1/8), Middleton (1/20) and Parkes' Triston Ross (1/19) all chipped in to help secure victory.

"If they keep getting better in little facets of the game we identify then the results will take care of themselves," McLay said.

"That's all our focus is. It's about getting those little things right and if these kids can play close to their potential the results will take care of themselves."

Seeing the players develop as the carnival goes on is hugely rewarding for coaches like McClay.

A vastly experienced coach who's been a part of numerous junior carnivals previously, McLay said the priority is always development and enjoyment.

"That's the big outcome. It's nice to win but if these players grow and develop and pick up two or three things they hadn't done well previously, for me, that's the big outcome for this age group," he said.

"We hope all coaches are providing an environment where they can express themselves and their game and their game can flourish.

"Some of these kids have four or five more years on the pathway so we want to keep making incremental improvement each carnival and what we saw today was promising."

The afternoon's round of Twenty20 matches were briefly stopped due to an afternoon downpour but all were completed.

There was no second win for the Lions in the afternoon as they fell to a six wicket-loss in their match against the Sydney Stags.

The under 17 and under 19 women's matches also started on Tuesday.

Dubbo junior Riley Keen and his under 17s began with a 65-run victory over the Sydney Sharks in their 50-over match.

Keen made 13 not out in his side's total of 206 - headlined by Jake Scott's 85 - and then the RSL-Colts quick was one of three bowlers to claim two wickets as the Sharks were knocked over for 141.

Keen finished with 2/23 from five overs.

In the women's division, there was wins for the Sydney Sharks and Sydney Scorpions.

There was a number of strong individual showings in the Scorpions' seven-wicket win over the Country Kangroos. Bethany Lane took 4/27 overs as the Scorpions kept the Kangaroos to 8/183 before Samantha Arnold (56) and Shivani Mehta (54 retired not out) starred in the clinical run chase.

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