Ben Day's RSL-Colts outfit lived up to its high pre-Whitney Cup final rating with a tradesman-like victory over Newtown for the Dubbo RSL first grade premiership.
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Newtown made only 108 from 43 overs in its first innings on Saturday and stumps were pulled yesterday with Colts 9-156 in reply.
All the excitement was on Saturday when the green top No 1 Oval pitch offered something to the bowlers.
After Day won the toss and sent the opposition into bat, the Newtown batsmen failed to counter the Colts attack of Matt Ryan and Ben Howarth and never really looked like making a big score.
Michael Kempston made 25 up the order but it was left to Greg Briggs (18 not out) and a couple of his tailenders - Glenn Shepherd and Jeremy Dickson with 12 each - to give the score some substance.
Ryan led the attack with 4-30 and Howarth 2-19 grabbed six wickets between them and Brad Cox (2-14), Wes Giddings and Martin Bourke also gained some reward.
The Newtown innings was a mixture of poor batting and good bowling by Colts, but it was inexcusable for them not to make better use of their maximum 75 overs.
In reply, the Colts innings started well enough but after Brad Cox (17), Jason Ryan, Ben Day and Matt Ryan (all 15) got starts, there was concern just prior to stumps.
Colts went from 3-64 after 14 overs and then 7-102 at stumps which left the minor premiers with seven runs to get with three wickets in hand.
There were a couple of crucial moments just before stumps on Saturday when an enthusiastic appeal for catch behind off Briggs went in favour of Wes Giddings, and also when Shepherd put down a sharp chance, with Giddings again the batsman.
Then yesterday, it was Giddings who drove Matt Finlay down the ground for four to score the winning runs.
Giddings was finally out for top score of 33 while Martin Bourke (23 not out) middled the ball well.
Sadly for Aaron Etcell his five wickets for Newtown went without reward.
He bowled beautifully on both days to finish with 5-44 from 14 overs while Jeremy Dickson used the new ball intelligently for 2-45 from 11 overs.
Newtown captain Will Lindsay was disappointed in the main with the batting on Saturday.
"Seventeen wickets fell on Saturday and I think that was indicative of how the wicket played," Lindsay said.
"However that is no excuse for the way we batted, it was disappointing. Looking back, if we had batted out more overs and scored another 20 to 30 runs then it would have allowed us to put more pressure on them.
"But you have to give credit to the bowlers from both sides. Matt Ryan moved the ball nicely off the pitch for Colts and then Aaron Etcell used the conditions wonderfully well for us."
Although Colts in recent years have been pretty close to the mark, their premiership yesterday was only their first since the 1999-2000 season.
Prior to that it was the season of 1988-89 when they played under Colts United.
Five members of yesterday's side - Brad Cox, Aaron Morris, Glenn Gallagher, Martin Bourke and Wes Giddings - were in the 1999-2000 premiership team and have been fine stalwarts for Colts.
What a season it has been for Colts.
Yesterday's win was a significant one for Ben Day who has led the side well this season.
They lost only two games and won the minor premiership and also played a big part in their club's club premiership title.
Day took on the captaincy this time around after Wes Giddings had the job the previous season.
The way the players got behind Day was indicative of his dedication to the position.
"It's been a very satisfying season and one that all the players should enjoy the fruits of their labour," Day said last night.
"We did all the hard work on Saturday early but then gave them back a chance later in the day and I must admit there were a few anxious moments when we slumped to be six down and still needed another 30 runs.
"Obviously I would have felt much more comfortable if we had only been three or four wickets down, especially when the wicket was still doing a bit.
"I can only applaud the efforts of our young quicks Matt Ryan and Ben Howarth. They got us off to a good start and had them 4-24, so that was good for us.
"They have both bowled well all season and really deserved to be part of our winning team.
"Before we started the final we just talked about bowling a good line and length and to see what the wicket had it. They followed that to the law and the results came their way - it was certainly a significant contribution.
"They were bowling to a batting side that has four and six run shot makers and they got rid of those players to set the platform."
