Cricket: All-round South Tamworth effort upsets Tamworth City United

But South Tamworth captain, Chris Skilton, always knew that his side were more than a fair chance of upsetting the number one team on the table on Saturday.

"Our biggest issue is getting players consistently on the park," Skilton said.

"We've got a few players who are farmers and whatnot, we lose a few through harvest season. Normally, post-Christmas, we come home with a bit of a wet sail."

That trend continued on Saturday, as Souths scored one of the biggest upsets this season to topple Tamworth City United at No. 1 Oval.

After the rain on Friday night, City won the toss and elected to bowl first on a wicket which "looked like it had a bit in it", Skilton said.

"I would've done the same," he added.

The pitch was tacky and proved difficult to bat on, but Luke Smith (38) and Tom Groth (25 not out) provided impetus at the beginning and the end of Souths' innings, respectively.

"It was pleasing to get the runs we did," Skilton said.

"Luke Smith earned the right to go after a few after building an innings, and Tom Groth did the same thing at the end. He made sure we were getting six an over for the last 10, 15 overs."

Having batted for some time to score 26, Skilton knew their total of 156 would be hard to chase.

And Souths' abundance of bowling options put them firmly in the box seat.

"After batting out there myself, I knew it was tough and I thought that score was going to be challenging," Skilton said.

Carter McIlveen (3-30) was the pick of the bowlers for Skilton, as he bowled well with the new ball and at the death, while Sam Murphy (2-22) bowled eight overs straight and also came in for praise.

Other than Aaron Baker (25), none of City's batters passed 20. The wicket got no easier as the day went on, and Souths' disciplined attack strangled them of run-scoring opportunities.

By the end of the day, City were all out for 122 and sunk to a second consecutive defeat.

And what pleased Skilton the most was the manner in which so many players contributed.

"It was a very hot day, so we needed to rotate the ball around and batters were going to find it hard," Skilton said.

"It was really pleasing ... it was good that a few players stood up to help us get home today."

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