Connolly Cup: Quirindi edge out Gunnedah by five runs at Wolseley Oval

When last year's Connolly Cup finalists traveled to Gunnedah's Wolseley Oval today in the fourth round of the same competition, they were confident they could get the job done and potentially secure a spot in finals for the second year in a row.

But little did captain Aaron King expect the game to be decided by just five runs.

In fact, as the second innings came to a close, Quirindi had no idea how narrow the margin really was.

"Little did we realise how tight it actually got in the end," King said.

"We thought we still had about 10 runs to play with, and when we walked off we realised it was just five."

Quirindi's good fortune began early when King won the toss and elected to bat first.

They struggled initially in the face of a good opening spell from Ash White (2-25), while Sam Doubleday starred for the home side with a haul of 5-23 from 10 overs.

But Quirindi's Jason Lobsey wasted no time in belting two fours and two sixes en route to a match-winning 28, and he was ably assisted by Jake Cosgrove (21).

"[It was] just enough to win," King said.

"If one of those sixes goes to hand instead of going over the fence, that's the difference in the game."

Their total of 113 would look to many to be insufficient, but walking off after the first innings, King knew the Quirindi bowling attack was more than capable of defending three figures.

"We're very confident with our bowling attack," he said.

"If we can get to triple figures, we'll win a game against any and all-comers ... Our bowling is our biggest strength at the moment."

That belief would soon be backed up by the Quirindi bowlers, with Jake Chapple's 3-48 the standout in King's opinion.

The opener bowled 10 straight as Gunnedah battled hard but could not hit him out of the attack.

Lobsey (2-28) and Nick Hird (3-20) were also instrumental in ensuring the home side never got a stand going.

It wasn't until Gunnedah's final pair of Rhyce Kliendienst (12*) and Bailey Lennox (7) came together at 9-88 that they put on the team's first 20-run partnership since the fall of the fourth wicket, which frustrated Quirindi.

"There were a couple of lucky shots, inside edges past the stumps," King said.

"You started to think 'Is it going to be our day or are these blokes going to get them home?' But we were lucky enough to take that last wicket."

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