Brendon Reynolds' man of the match-winning spell in Sunday's Connolly Cup final was the best the Gwydir quick has, by his own admission, "bowled in years".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The former Central North paceman ripped the heart out of Moree's run chase with his first five-wicket haul that he can remember since he moved back from Sydney at the end of the 2015 season.
"From the first ball everything felt good," he said.
"Even the boys were saying my pace was up, it was the quickest they've seen me bowl."
He finished with an impressive 5-10 from his six as Gwydir won the silverware for the first time.
Reynolds had previously celebrated War Veterans Cup success with Tamworth, and said it was pretty special to be part of Gwydir's maiden triumph.
Playing with them this season, and Warialda in the local Bingara competition, he said he has found his love for cricket again.
"I've really enjoyed my cricket for the first time in a long time," Reynolds said.
"Just to be able to go out with a couple of mates and enjoy it, and not worrying about winning."
READ ALSO:
It has been a bit of a refreshing change from the more competitive environments of Sydney first grade and even Tamworth, with the 27-year old playing two seasons with West Tamworth.
Last season he played in Inverell but "had a pretty quite season".
"I wanted a bit of time away, wanted to free up my weekends," he said.
"It was pretty full-on driving from here down there (Tamworth)."
Often he was playing two games, backing up for the rep side on Sunday.
Reynolds was asked to play for Warialda by a work colleague at Bindaree Beef. Word then got back to his former Tamworth skipper, and Gwydir captain, Tom Groth, and he rang him about playing for them.
He hadn't played any rep cricket since he helped Tamworth reach the Country Cup final in the 2016/17 season, but was happy to pull on the blue and white.
On Sunday he was pretty happy defending 179.
"When we saw how slow the outfield was we said if we get 180 we'd be happy with the bowling we had," he said.
"180 on that ground was worth 230, 240."
Taking the new ball with South Tamworth paceman Angus McNeill they had Moree 7-36.
"He was good to have at the other end," Reynolds said.
"He built the pressure and that gave me the opportunity to attack."
Reynolds will now turn his attention to the Bingara semi-finals.
"We (Warialda) play Gully next week. We lose that we're out," he said.
He said they will take some confidence from their last game against Gully. They have batted pretty poorly this season but were able to chase down 170 with four overs to go.
