Westbury captain Richard Howe even admitted so.

The rub of the green aided his side to skittle Mowbray out in Monday’s only Greater Northern Cup fixture.

“It was a good thing there was no massive downpour because we wouldn’t have got on at all,” Howe said.

“In the end, the square out there was fine [to play on].

“We only just had that light drizzle out Westbury way that was enough so we could get on and make a game of it.”

The 40 kilometres apart made the difference.

At Riverside, they couldn’t get on. Not even once.

The start had been pushed further and further back. The delays became too frequent.

Umpires were waiting until 2:30pm to try and squeeze in the required 20 overs per side. But opponents South Launceston were calling it earlier on its Facebook page.

Howe walked off the damp home strip full well knowing Westbury pinched four vital points that none of Cricket North’s four rivals could take. 

“It’s always nice to know that if it’s the case,” he said.

After rain trickled down before the first ball to reduce the game from 50 down to 42 overs, Mowbray’s openers set about building a strong platform after winning the toss.

Connor Lockhart was adjudged leg before off Alex Kerrison for 17 to break up the 51-run opening stand.

But when captain Luke Scott was also struck on the pads for 23, reminders of the Eagles’ downfall two days came flooding back.

The visitors had lost 9-27 to be bundled out for 65 against South Launceston.

This time it wasn’t quite as dramatic, but 9-45 to include 5-2 in the middle-order was costly in the final analysis.

“Mowbray had a relatively young side in and we knew if we could get through the top five or six batsman that they were even a bit younger to come,” Howe said.

“They stuck at it pretty well at the start and put a bit of pressure on us. But once we got a few breakthroughs, it opened up for us a bit.”

Jono Chapman started the rot, catching out Ben Bodha (14) and Rohan Pooley (9).

But it was William Donald who did the rest with 4-16. 

“We generally bowl well at Westbury and restrict teams as much as possible,” he said.

“I think the bowlers, especially the spinners, did a really good job to restrict things.

“Once the ball got a bit damp, it obviously made scoring a bit harder as well.”

The loss of Howe (2) and Dane Anderson (12) cheaply gave the Eagles attack hope.

The arrival of Jake Williams probably killed that.

After a fine 140 on Saturday for the Greater Northern Raiders, Williams was outed for just one on Sunday in a Tasmanian under-19 trial.

The 18-year-old prodigy wasn’t going to miss out the next day, scoring 39 not out.

Donald at the top of the order added 35 to four scalps.

“Some times blokes have a tendency when they’re making runs at a high level to come back and maybe not do so well,” Howe said.

“So to finish not out and ensure he was there to get the winning runs was fantastic.”