As Tamworth under 11s coach Chris Skilton told his charges as they took the field for Sunday's Josh Hazlewood Shield final they'd "done all the hard work"; now all that was left was to go out and "have a bit of fun together and put a performance on the park".
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Put a performance on they did, cruising to a nine wicket win over Armidale to clinch back-to-back wins in the competition.
Played at Riverside 4, Tamworth were on top for much of the game.
"It was just a good allround performance," Skilton said.
"No one went out there and tried to bowl too fast, they went out there and tried to bowl off stump.
"And the batters went out there and played with a straight bat and showed their stickers."
Overcoming Armidale in the final to win last year, bowling first again proved the recipe for success.
They had the visitors 4-40 after the first 15 of their allotted 30 overs and had probably their two best batsmen out.
"The boys bowled really well and fielded really well in that first 15 overs," Skilton said.
They then lost an early wicket in the run chase. But Elijah Skilton and Koby Byrne "steadied the ship" and guided them through to 1-62 from their first 15 overs.
Carrying a 22-run lead into the second innings, the Tamworth bowlers continued to build the pressure and restricted Armidale to 9-79 at the end of their 30.
Leaving them 18 runs for victory off 15 overs, the defending champions needed less than four, Jacob Anderson and Hamish Blackman finishing off the job after Byrne (33) and Skilton (32) both had to retire with only a few runs to get.
Explaining the decision to bowl first, [Chris] Skilton gave a couple of reasons.
One was the conditions.
"Because we start at 9.30 it's that little bit cooler so for no other reason than getting the boys out there and let them bubble around and have a bit of fun when it's a bit cooler rather than having to field in the middle of the day," he said.
He also noted that at the carnival they attended in Newcastle earlier in the new year they had "chased down a couple of good totals".
"So they were confident chasing," he said.
"It also gives you that bit of freedom to know how many runs you need, how many runs an over is that, and pace your innings rather than have to go out there and set something."
The under 11s were the shining light on an otherwise disappointing day with the Tamworth under 13s, under 15s and under 17s all beaten in their respective finals.
Sam Davis provided probably the only real highlight with 72 and 2-15 for the under 15s in their John Kilborn Shield loss to Maitland Maroon at No.1 Oval.
Defending 9-164, which Davis was the backbone of, the Blue almost got there with Maitland nine down when they passed the total.
In the George Denton Shield (under 13s) decider at Riverside 3, chasing Maitland Maroon's 4-194 the Blue were bowled out for 129.
It was pretty lean pickings aside from captain Cooper Jones (43) with openers Maxwell Daly (24) and Chase Wilson (14) the only other batsmen to make double figures.
Meanwhile in the Col Dent Shield final down in Maitland, the Gold under 17s were outgunned by their Maitland counterparts, the home side chasing down their 123 inside 18 overs.
RESULTS
Josh Hazlewood Shield: Tamworth 1-80 (Koby Byrne 33, Elijh Skilton 32 - Caleb Davies 1-3) d Armidale 9-89 (Patrick Gordon 17 - Jacob Anderson 2-2, Finnan Connor 1-11, Hamish Blackman 1-4, Carter Brown 1-8, Cooper Morgan 1-7, Jackson McDonald 1-8, Koby Byrne 1-6).
George Denton Shield: Tamworth Blue 129 (Cooper Jones 43, Maxwell Daly, 24, Chase Wilson 14) defeated by Maitland Maroon 4-194 (Will Davis 2-40, Cooper Jones 1-27, Chase Wilson 1-24).
John Kilborn Shield: Tamworth Blue 9-164 (Sam Davis 72, Sinclair Little 28no) defeated by Maitland Maroon 9-165 (Sam Davis 2-15, Sinclair Little 2-16, Lachlan Mason 2-23).
Col Dent Shield: Tamworth 123 (Henry Haling 28, Sanchit Jagadeesan 19) defeated by Maitland under 17s 2-124 (Thomas Holmes 2-16).
