The promise of a spirit-lifting win gave way to the disappointment of a hard-fought loss - and Central North's quest for an elusive NSW Country Championship title continues.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
After beating home side the Central Coast by 99 runs on Saturday, Central North suffered a four-wicket loss to North Coastal on Sunday.
Read also:
The Tom Groth-captained Central North finished the tournament with one win and two losses.
On the opening day of the championship on Friday, Newcastle beat Central North by five wickets.
Against the Central Coast, Central North were dismissed for 172 in the 48th over and then routed the home side for 73 in the 18th over.
Callum Gabriel (56) and Andrew Harriott (48) top-scored for Central North, with Gabriel (4-7) and Dylan Smith (4-29) Central North's chief destroyers.
Against North Coastal, Central North won the toss and batted - before being removed for 212 on the last ball of the innings. Simon Norvill (36) and Mitch Fisher (34) top-scored.
In reply, North Coastal reached 6-215 in the 48th over.
Gabriel claimed 2-34 in seven overs and four of his teammates - Tom O'Neill, Cameron Wynn, Hayden Baker and Nick Smart - each claimed a wicket.
Groth said "not too bad" when asked to sum up Central North's overall performance.
"A bit of a close one today [Sunday], we were outplayed by Newcastle on day one, but had a good win yesterday [Saturday]," he said.
