CITY'S bad luck with rain and grand finals continued on Monday, with the Armidale District Cricket Association one-day final washed out after just 22 overs.
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At this stage the match will be replayed at a date yet to be decided, but City may be feeling a little unlucky after putting themselves in a dominant position on Monday.
Last season City were forced to share the premiership spoils with Hillgrove after the grand final was washed out.
City skipper Stephen Butler won the toss on Monday and sent Easts in on a sticky deck at the Armidale Sportsground.
Morning rain meant scoring was going to be tough on a wet outfield, but City quicks Karl Triebe (2-26) and Adam Sweeney (4-39) both produced terrific spells and to make scoring almost impossible at times.
When the rain began to fall heavily, Easts were reeling at 6-93 and City were poised to claim the one-day premiership, but the two sides never got back on.
Only Todd Francis (35) provided any real resistance for Easts on an extremely difficult pitch.
Butler was disappointed, but also confident his side can replicate that performance when the match is replayed.
“It does feel like the one that got away to be honest,” Butler said.
“We were in a pretty dominant position.
“Unfortunately the match couldn’t have been completed, but we will re-group and attack in a couple of weeks.”
Butler said while it was an ideal toss to win, his bowlers were outstanding.
“The pitch was also going to be dicey because of the rain,” he said.
“But we bowled and fielded really well.
“We have that great vibe and culture in the club at the moment.” Left-arm quick Sweeney bowled 11 overs straight from the northern end and proved unplayable at times.
At no time was this more evident than his delivery that kicked off a length to take the shoulder of Shane Collins’ bat and skewed to first slip where Hugh Reckord took a sensational catch.
“Sweeney bowled really well,” Butler said. “He’s been bowling well with out success for a while.”