Tamworth City United and North Tamworth to face off in last round game

It is, then, unsurprising that the final match of the season between the two, which began last weekend at No. 1 Oval, was dictated by the pacemen.

The game continues this Saturday with play finely poised, as City United are 6-86 with a one-run lead.

The fast bowling ranks of either side run deep. Tamworth City currently has three bowlers sitting in the top 10 wicket-takers of the season: captain Tait Jordan (21), Jack McVey (23), and Aaron Baker (17), while North Tamworth has two, as captain Adam Greentree (25) leads the competition tally, and Brad Redshaw (17) comes in at ninth, with the addition of Cameron Reeves as potentially the fastest bowler in the competition.

But the strength of both teams' pace bowling does not lie fully with their attack leaders.

As far as Jordan is concerned, it is their versatility which is most crucial.

"I think our fast bowling attack's been most of the reason for our success in the last six or seven years," Jordan said.

"It's definitely good having a few batters that can roll the arm over like Aaron, Tom [Fitzgerald], and even Pat Dwyer. We have a fair few options ... there's definitely a few blokes waiting in the wings who can definitely do a job."

That job was done resoundingly on day one of the match, as City United rolled Norths for 85 on a wicket that both teams thought would be batter-friendly.

Greentree, who was "disappointed" by their batting, said the team is eager to make amends tomorrow.

"The boys took that in their stride, we had a bit of a chat about it. We're looking to bounce back tomorrow," he said.

"We're going to try and get these four wickets as quickly as we can and see where we go from there."

With just those four wickets remaining, Jordan hopes City's batters can continue and build some kind of lead for them to bowl at.

"We'll try and get 70-80 runs ahead," Jordan said.

"We don't have a whole lot of wickets in hand, so we can't hope to get too far ahead, but hopefully we can get one partnership together."

As fast bowlers, both captains enjoy the opportunity to lead quick-heavy teams.

Greenwood said that they "probably are the best two attacks in town", and is eager to see what both sides can produce tomorrow on a day with so much depending on the result.

"It's the last round and there's so much riding on it," he said.

"It's going to be an interesting day ... because we lost first innings, to win the minor premiership, we need to win outright."

Winning the minor premiership also guarantees a straight shot through to the grand final. Meanwhile, the same result for City United would ensure them third place on the ladder and a spot in the semi-final, as they are currently in danger of slipping to fourth depending on the result of the game between Old Boys and South Tamworth.

Jordan has particularly enjoyed the captaincy this year, but not just because of their plentiful pace - he has appreciated the batters contributing more regularly.

"Me being a bowler, I tend to want to strengthen the batting," he said.

"I back myself more to bowl long spells, but it's easier knowing that if the game does go deep and we have to bowl 60, 70, 80 overs, we do have a few extras that we can throw the ball to.

"To have that versatility is a big boost and definitely makes it easier for me as captain."

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