After dismissing Glen Innes for 121 at King George Park Inverell then took just 17 overs to register 3-126.

Glen had opened brightly with a 39 run stand in less than nine overs between Brandon Levy and Jake Every, before Every was bowled by Rynne for 20. Rodney Roberts (1) and Codey Hogan (0) came and went in quick order to leave the score at 3-49.

Justin Power was one of a group of players called upon at the last moment by skipper Nigel Sharman. Power had not played for some years but agreed to fill in and hung on with Levy for a valuable 45 run partnership. Power eventually fell to a splendid diving catch to keeper Dave Mudaliar off Nick Cumming’s bowling for 13.

“I was chasing players this morning and had to make a few phone calls,” said Sharman. 

“Justin agreed to play and I had to call Dean (Gillett) off the golf course to help us out.”

Mudaliar has not kept for “ages” but his display behind the stumps was as polished as ever, despite moving into a category he described as “well past veteran status”.

Blake Steel (4) and veteran Dean Gillett (0) both fell to Mick Kenny who spearheaded the Inverell attack in a fine display of pace bowling that returned excellent figures of 4 for 27 from 10 overs. Only Toby Shannon (13) made any sort of contribution with the bat after Levy was bowled for 49 by Kenny.

“We started really well,” said Glen’s Sharman. 

“Our openers (Levy and Every) batted brightly but we fell away after that. Justin (Power) worked hard after he had to find his gear when I called on him and young Toby (Shannon) went well, but we didn’t make enough runs.

“Still, with the lack of experienced players I reckon we went better than we expected. It’s a very young side.”

Nick Cumming came into the attack when Glen’s batsmen were starting to get on top and delivered the breakthrough almost immediately, having Power caught behind by a diving Mudaliar.

“He (Cumming) came in and gave us the wickets we needed at a crucial time,” said skipper, Lachlan Binnie.

Inverell polished off the run chase in 17 overs, for the loss of just three wickets, but not before a couple of anxious moments when Glen’s openers, Levy (1-54) and Steel (1-49) each grabbed one of the openers, both caught behind by Every.

The visitors were 2-19 after two overs but that was all the anxiety they experienced. 

Dave Mudaliar (45no) joined Kenny at the wicket and the two experienced hands carried the score to 110 before Kenny was splendidly caught, one handed by Gillett, off Rodney Roberts for 45 (4 fours and a six). On top of his excellent bowling, Kenny’s innings gave him an outstanding all-round performance.

Mudaliar finished unbeaten on 45 after hitting six fours but found some trouble hitting the middle of the bat. Nevertheless, he maintained concentration and led his team to the winning target. The lesson in application should not be lost on the Glen Innes batsmen, several of whom managed to throw their wickets away trying to play big shots when the delivery required more respect.

Roberts took 1 for 11 while Steel and Levy took a wicket each but gave away most of the 24 extras presented to Inverell.

“That was a really good team effort, the second in two weeks,” said Binnie. 

“Dave (Mudaliar) and Mick (Kenny) both batted well and Mick bowled really well again. It’s great to have their experience in the team and it really helps me as captain to take their advice at times when we need to make something happen.”