For captain Jamie Stedman and his Orange City teammates, being crowned minor premiers with a week to spare was a welcome relief.
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The first-placed team got the win over CYMS in the Orange District Cricket Association second grade competition on Saturday, which sealed the regular season title.
"It's nice to get that out of the way, it's been hanging over our heads for a couple of weeks," Stedman said.
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"The last few weeks the club has had quite a few unavailability's through injuries and what have you, so to put a side on the paddock the last few weeks was amazing. Then to seal the minor premiership as a result was even better."
City batted first at made 151 for the loss of nine wickets, thanks to Shaun Kirby with a near run-a-ball 49.
City them decimated CYMS' middle order, leaving them 7-76 in reply. Isaac Rodd (14) and Joel Blashki (18) provided some late support for the wooden-spooners but it wasn't enough as they were all out for 131. Lee Cornish was the destroyer with the ball, claiming 5-8 off eight overs.
"We always back our blokes, but we haven't been playing our best and we can do a lot better," Stedman added.
"I would much rather they weren't as close as they got, but in saying that, our blokes are very capable of getting the breakthrough.
"We've got a game to go and obviously the result is pointless but we don't just want to hand out a loss."
In other second grade results Kinross took down Centrals Black in a close match.
Black batted first and were all out for 85, with Nathan Gander (34) providing the only resistance. There were a few worrying moments for Kinross in reply, as they slumped to 8-78, but a 25 not out from Hugh Thompson guided them across the line.
In the third and final game, Cavaliers handily defeated Centrals Red. The 43-run win assured Cavs of a second place finish, which means they will face off with Red once again in two weeks for a shot at the grand final.
Cavs also had a decisive win in the third grade competition, bowling Centrals out for 42, thanks to monster efforts by Mark Wiegold (6-22) and Waseem Khan (4-20).
Cavs were two down when they reached the target in reply.
In the other game, Orange City got the best of CYMS in a three-wicket win.
CYMS managed to put 130 on the board thanks to a last wicket partnership between Chirag Desai (25 not out) and Jett Clarke (24).
City struggled in reply early on, as they fell to 7-69. But a 62-run stand between Adithya Jayaraman (48 not out) and Rodney Streater (31) got them over the line.
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