NORTH Coast fell one game short of breaking an 18-year drought in a six-wicket loss against Central Coast in the men\u2019s NSW Country cricket final.<\/p>\n
Batting first, North Coast was dismissed for 207, with player-coach Pat Rosser leading the resistance from the lower order, top-scoring with 66.<\/p>\n
Central Coast chased the target in confident fashion, reaching the total in the 30th over, led by an unbeaten 81 from Liam O\u2019Farrell, sealing the region\u2019s first NSW Country title.<\/p>\n
The loss brought an end to a strong campaign for North Coast, which went through the five preliminary rounds unbeaten.<\/p>\n
Young players Lachlan Barnes, Kai Dalli and Hayden Wilson all got a taste of senior representative cricket for the first time.<\/p>\n
Captain Alec Williams said the emergence of younger players was one of the most pleasing aspects of the campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were a little bit worried once we lost a few guys before the tournament, but I can\u2019t speak highly enough of the guys who came in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole idea was to get that team culture back and build towards the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cCredit has to go to Pat Rosser, Aaron Bryant and the rest of our coaching staff for making it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goonellabah Workers Sports opener Jack Cooper played a key role in that run, scoring two centuries during the tournament.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old is the youngest brother of Tom Cooper, who played first-class cricket with South Australia for more than a decade.<\/p>\n
His older brother Ben Cooper was due to play in the team but had to pull out before the early rounds with a hand injury.<\/p>\n
North Coast was also forced to contend with the late withdrawal of Cudgen all-rounder Caleb Ziebell, widely regarded as the standout player in the Far North Coast LJ Hooker League competition.<\/p>\n
Despite the absences, the side retained plenty of experience with Williams, a NSW Country representative returning from injury for the final.<\/p>\n
The team also had an even mix of players from the Far North Coast and Mid North Coast for the first time in several years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NORTH Coast fell one game short of breaking an 18-year drought in a six-wicket loss against Central Coast in the men\u2019s NSW Country cricket final. Batting first, North Coast was dismissed for 207, with player-coach Pat Rosser leading the resistance from the lower order, top-scoring with 66. Central Coast chased the target in confident fashion, […]<\/p>\n