The Tamworth side met Hunter Sports High in the quarter-finals of the State knockout and was asked to bowl first.

Will Howard and Cameron Reeves opened the bowling for Oxley and picked up a couple of early wickets but couldn’t keep the Newcastle boys under their thumb for too long.

The total built steadily but Oxley did well to keep it in check in the latter overs thanks to some timely wickets.

Howard finished with 3-33, Malachii Schofield bagged 2-34, Jacob McGoldrick produced a good spell of 2-18 and Matt Fulwood picked up the other wicket in his only over to record

1-4.

The Hunter total was a reasonable

8-147.

“They were never in trouble,” Oxley coach Gordon Rae said.

“They were 2-66 after 20 and our aim was to keep them under 160, so we were happy to do that.

“They didn’t really have a chance to accumulate a big score.

“They got 80 off their last 20 and 147 was a score that we thought we could get if we batted well.

“Unfortunately we didn’t bat well.”

The Oxley top order needed to get the chase off to a good start but it struggled.

Luke Fox made 14 but he was the only top five bat to reach double figures and Oxley was 5-49.

Jack Clements steadied the ship a little bit with 18 before departing and, at seven down, it was up to Schofield and Will Howard to produce the partnership Oxley had failed to build earlier in the dig.

They did that for a while, with Schofield hitting the ball sweetly on his way to 29 before he finally mistimed one.

He had given his side a hope but Oxley still needed 36 and it proved too much as the last two wickets fell quickly and Oxley fell 29 runs short.

“Our top four or five didn’t get the runs we’d hoped,” Rae said.

“We can’t expect them to get them all the time.

“Mal batted really well, got 29 and top-scored for us.

“He was under some pressure to score quickly but he played some really nice cricket shots.

“They weren’t just hit and bash shots.

“That’s the best I’ve seen him bat.”

Hunter will most likely go on to play Endeavour Sports High in the semis.

Oxley may be finished in the statewide competition but is still competing in the Ron George Shield locally.