Connolly Cup: Quirindi captain Aaron King rides the rollercoaster in semi-final

They haven't held the silverware since 1981.

Just making the semi-finals was an historic achievement in itself, having not been there since 1989.

Sunday's semi-final was a rollercoaster ride.

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"I've got no idea how to think about today," King admitted post-match.

After losing a couple of early wickets, Will King (25) and Lachie Barton (33) had them looking on track for a decent score but that quickly changed.

From around 2-55 at first drinks and then 3-83 after 23 overs they collapsed to be all out for 97.

"We just couldn't stop the bleeding," King said, adding that Armidale "bowled really well".

He had said heading into the game that he would back their attack "to defend any total" but he admittedly had a bit more in mind than 97.

"When we were all out, I thought we were probably 30-40 runs short of where we should have been," he said.

But they had "a nice little hour session" before lunch and were able to make a notable dent in the Armidale run chase, Todd Burgess snagging a wicket the second ball of the final over before the break to have the home side 4-40.

At that point it was still anyone's game but the Quirindi bowlers turned the screws after the resumption taking 6-15 to roll them for 55.

Burgess (four wickets), Jake Chapple (three wickets) and Barton (three wickets) were the destroyers, King noting that the latter "seems to create a bit of magic" when he comes on.

He did the same in their final round win over Gunnedah claiming 4-5 to clean up the tail.

Chapple had got them rolling picking up the first three wickets

"It's the best he's bowled this year," King said.

"He opened the bowling and bowled 10 overs straight".

He had employed the same tactic with Burgess in the Gunnedah game because of how well he was bowling.

The bowlers were well backed up in the field. King said he thought their fielding couldn't get any better than the Gunnedah game, but "every half chance" they took it.

Uncertain at lunch he said once they got that seventh wicket he "had a feeling like this is ours now for the taking".

They did, and will now face Narrabri in the final at Narrabri this Sunday after they beat Gwydir in the other semi-final.

Narrabri will be themselves looking to end a silverware drought, last winning the competition in 2015.

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