At Moree the home side, which had earned the home ground advantage by beating Armidale in Armidale the Sunday before, repeated the dose in the Under 12 final.

They had lost the previous two finals, both at Moree, but struck early, dismissing Armidale for 85 and then replying with 4-87.

Jordan King (18) and Benji Marshall (24) topscored for an Armidale side which also welcomed 31 sundries.

They had a disastrous start, losing 3-8 before Marshall and  King added 36 for the fourth wicket.

Bradley Swan (3-11), Andrew Kirk (1-9), Henry Ledingham (1-20), Jack Matthews (3-13) and Joe Ticehurst (1-16) all shared in the wicket-taking success for the home side.

Liam Lawson (10), Ed Montgomery (21no) and Henry Ledingham (11no) guided Moree to their winning target against a determined and tight Armidale attack.

Kareena Dawson (1-9) Dominic Ferguson (1-7), Alex Williams (1-9) and Nick Page (1-5) all bowled tight lines to pick up wickets.

In Armidale, the home side also prevailed in the Under 14 Final between Armidale and Tamworth Gold Under 13s, making 8-141 and then bowling Tamworth Gold out for 125.

Originally scheduled for Armidale Sportsground, the game was transferred to the synthetic wicket at Jack Valance Oval due to rain.

“Armidale won the toss and elected to bat on the damp pitch with rain threatening to delay play,” Tamworth Gold manager Russell Pitt said.

“Their top three managed to put on 74, with Henry Smith looking good until getting caught at point for 18. 

“Henry Sindel was also strong for Armidale, top scoring with 26. 

“Armidale were slowed up in the middle by some great line and length bowling by Brody Blackett-Gregg (1-14 of 8) and Campbell Newby (1-28 off 10).”

Armidale reached 8-141 at the end of their allotted 50 overs with Conrad George (2-13 off 9) and Will Meyers (2-17 off 6) the pick of the Gold bowlers.

“By the time Tamworth batted the sun was out and the pitch and outfield had quickened up but it wasn’t long before Armidale’s Keiren Dennis was on a hat- trick and Tamworth were 2-1 in the second over,” Pitt said.

“Thomas Haling (15) and Noah Pitt (25) batted Tamworth out of trouble and managed to put on 54 before the loss of the  third wicket. 

“The game see-sawed from that point on, with Armidale continuing to bowl tightly and George digging in for Tamworth, finishing with an unbeaten 34. 

“In the end, Armidale were just too strong and, after a couple of run outs, Tamworth were bowled out in the 47th over just 16 runs short.”

Tamworth Gold coach James Haling praised his team for their continued effort throughout the summer, leaving their best performance for the grand final.

“Everyone stepped up and played to their potential which was great to see,” Russell Pitt said.

“The fielding, bowling and batting improved every week and we should be able to shake a few teams up next year when we head south again for the Hunter Valley under 14 competition.”

The Under 16 final between Inverell and Tamworth was the only final won by the away side.

Inverell posted 168 thanks to an impressive half century from Joe Smith (65) and then routed the Tamworth Golds for 86.

Tom Scoble’s 5-6 was a highlight, a brilliant performance from the Bradman Cup and North West CHS representative left-arm quick.