A blistering century from Aidan O'Connor set the Northern under-16 side up for a strong 146-run victory over the North-West at NTCA 1.
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The Riverside and Greater Northern Raiders prodigy smacked 106 off just 82 balls to reach three figures for the third time, despite only being 15 years of age.
The knock steered the home side to 8-270 off their 50 overs, capitalising off the strong platform set by Mowbray's Thomas Dwyer (41 off 58) and South Launceston's Oliver Knowles (27 off 63).
The opening pair put on 68 for the first wicket until Dwyer departed, with O'Connor later combining with the side's captain, Mowbray's Jonty Nicolson, for a third-wicket partnership of 83.
While the first innings strongly belonged to the Northern batters, North-West bowler Jonte Dixon collected 4-40 off his nine overs and Riley Stafford (2-47) and Oliver Burbury (2-51) also chipped in.
The Northern bowlers backed up their batters with James Leake (1-10) and Alex Tubb (2-12) restricting the openers' runs before claiming their wickets, going for just three runs after five overs.
From there, the likes of number four Joshua Davies (24 off 62) and number seven Tyson Johnson (25 off 42) provided some light in the chase but the home side's bowlers were too strong.
Kaidyn Apted finished with 2-37, Riley Donlon 1-17, O'Connor 1-17 and the side's sole TCL representative, Logan Jones, took 1-24.
UNDER-14S
On the North-West Coast, the Northern under-14s side also came away with a strong win, defeating the home side by 29 runs.
Playing a 40-over match, the visitors battled through a strong spell from North-West opening bowler Tyler Gleeson (3-25) to finish with 8-175.
Struggling at 4-30, a crucial partnership between the team's captain, Westbury's Cooper Kedey, and South Launceston's Jack Crane steered the Northern side on the right path as they put on 79.
Kedey finished with 32 before Crane followed just three runs short of a half-century, setting the platform for Quinn Elliott (27) and the side's lower order to get them to their final score.
Crane continued his strong day out with the ball, collecting 3-20 with his spinners, while his South Launceston teammates William French and Ethan Arnott also joined in, taking 2-22 and 2-35 respectively.
With only three batters scoring over double figures, the North-West's scorecard was dominated by Gleeson (46 off 37) and Flynn Dallas-Rogen (43 off 51).
The sides now switch venues, with the under-14s at NTCA and the under-16s at Latrobe on Wednesday.
Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
