A thrilling round of Greater Northern Cup had big implications for finals as both all-Northern games went down to the wire.
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RIVERSIDE knocked South Launceston out of finals and locked in a home final of its own as 15-year-old Aidan O'Connor came of age.
Following in the footsteps of clubmate Cooper Anthes who broke onto the scene as a 15-year-old two seasons ago, O'Connor arrived at the crease with the Blues needing 16 off 10 balls.
After some lusty hitting from Lyndon Stubbs, the Riverside High student iced the game with a boundary to secure a three-wicket win with just one ball to spare.
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Earlier, he had collected star South duo Nathan Philip and Sean Harris en route to career-best figures of 4-21.
"It was Aidan's best game for sure," Blues captain Tom Garwood said.
"He's going to have his good and bad games and today he stepped up to the plate when we needed it.
"He's been working hard, he's a good cricketer and he knows the game."
The Blues' pursuit of 6-232 began promisingly with Garwood (54), Patty Mackrell (76) and Ramesh Sundra (47) posting good knocks.
A collapse of 5-27 put the game in the balance before Stubbs (13* off 7) ensured the Blues would continue their best run of form in recent memory.
"It's been a very big improvement from last year," Garwood said.
"Locking a finals spot in for the one-day stuff is good but we've got Westbury next week so we've got to prove ourselves out there and then set ourselves up for the two-day stuff."
South skipper Sean Harris was disappointed not to stay in touch with Cricket North ladder-leader Launceston heading into a bye.
"They chased really well - we probably missed a few chances which cost us," Harris said.
"In the first 20 overs we had chances to take those wickets of Tom Garwood and Patty Mackrell which might have made a difference, but in the end they executed their run chase really well and we just weren't quite clinical enough in the field."
Earlier, South had batted well to make 200-plus with Harris (43) and Philip (49) falling just short of 50s and Tom Waller making a career-high 86 not out.
Waller appears on track for a career-best season with the bat after relinquishing the gloves and the captaincy in the off-season.
"He finished off last season batting with a lot of confidence - I think he's just really starting to know his role," Harris said.
"I haven't spoken to him about it but perhaps not keeping and being captain has freed him up a little bit.
"He runs really well between the wickets, he's fit and he's got a real clarity over what his role in our batting line-up is."
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MOWBRAY collected its first win of the season with a nail-biting two-wicket win over Westbury in the Make Runs Maxi Shield.
James Storay and Nick Smith both took early poles to reduce the Shamrocks to 4-19 and it was only a lone hand knock from skipper Dan Murfet (86) that got the hosts to 150.
Eagles captain Luke Scott (73) then anchored his side's innings in an 89-run stand with Sam Freeman (32) to lay the foundation for victory.
Both departed in quick succession to spark a collapse of 5-11 but second grade skipper Aaron Hughes (13*) secure victory with seven balls to spare.
"I think it was a long time coming to be honest," a relieved Storay said.
"We had a really good pre-season and we've just got a really good core bunch of kids.
"We're learning on the job as we go each week and now they've got that sniff of what it takes to win hopefully we can build from that.
"It was a pretty mature knock from Aaron that he was able to hold his nerve in a pretty key moment."
Already missing frontline bowlers Corey Briggs, Nick Spencer and Jono Chapman, Westbury was made to do without in-form spinner Alex Kerrison, who was called into hospital late on Friday night for appendix surgery.
Liam Ryan (2-32) and Kieren Hume (2-22) performed admirably but the reigning premiers couldn't convert a late flurry of wickets into an unlikely win.
"We just couldn't get a partnership happening throughout our whole innings and I think that was the only difference in winning or losing today," Murfet said.
"We left way too many runs out there. We knew if we were able to get Luke out we'd still be in the game and to our credit we stuck to it, but at the end of the day it just wasn't enough runs."
Murfet said the fundraising side of the day had been very successful with Scott awarded the Isaac Walters spirit of the game award.
"The raffle gets drawn next Saturday so there's still a chance to buy some tickets, but it was really good to see a lot of people at the cricket ground today with their Make Runs Maxi apparel on.
"It'll certainly be something we've started now that'll happen for many more years to come."
DEVONPORT all but secured its finals spot with a 95-run win over Wynyard.
Posting 200 on the back of a 121-run stand between Tyler Dell (68) and Cody Brown (50), the Orions made light work of the Tigers' batting line-up with Eli Sheean (3-22) potent.
Earlier, Tigers pair Brodie Stokes and Isaac Poole took three-wicket hauls.
A sparkling 102 from James Wescombe was not enough to get LATROBE over the line at Ulverstone.
The Black Caps made 5-229 with Jacob Snare (86) and Josh Walmsley (69) firing before Julius Kerwin (4-48) did enough with the ball to see the hosts home.
Jake Dixon led BURNIE to a three-wicket win over Sheffield in the late game.
The multi-sport talent made a cool-headed 27 not out to go with Brady Yates' 68 after Sheffield made 164 on the back of 58 from opener Jordan Marshall.