Central North over 55s captain Steve Wilson has described their State Championship triumph as a true team effort.
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It was third time lucky for the representative side at Wagga Wagga as they claimed the Warwick Hayes Cup for the first time.
Ranked fourth heading into the tournament after finishing fourth in the 2023 edition, Central North upset the number one and two ranked sides on their way to the silverware.
"You don't think of it at the time but when you look back on it, to be able to beat the top two teams to win it, it's pretty satisfying," Wilson said.
Especially when you are 2-0 and then 3-6 against the reigning champions in the final, and recover to post just shy of 200.
Played from January 21-23, the Central North side comprised players from Tamworth, Narrabri, Gunnedah and Armidale, as well as the Hunter.
One of three players to have been involved in Central North's two previous campaigns - Craig Clarke (Tamworth) and Grant Ryan (Armidale) were the other two - Wilson put the secret of their success down to everyone doing their bit.
"Over the three days all the bowlers got some wickets and the batters all got runs," he said.
He was one of the stars of their opening day win over Port Jackson Blue, leading from the front with 41 retired and five wickets.
Ryan and Peter Mead (Tamworth) also made 41 (ret) and Neil Brooks (Hunter) 34 as they amassed 5-230.
They then rolled the Sydney side for 128.
The win set up a semi-final against second-ranked Central Coast.
Bowling first, Narrabri's Neil Brayshaw, and Adam Lowe (Hunter) both nabbed two wickets as they restricted the Cyclones to 8-179, which they then chased down with 10 overs to spare.
Mead and Gunnedah's Shayne Riordan (both 29no) polished off the runs after Brooks had scored 42 (ret) off 31 balls at the top of the order.
Up against perennial heavyweights Port Jackson Red then in the final, Wilson was feeling pretty good when he won the toss and elected to bat.
But things quickly turned ugly.
"We were thinking what time's lunch booked, because we might be having an early day," Wilson said of what his thoughts were at 3-6.
But the middle order "knuckled down" and dragged them out of trouble.
Wilson (24) and Lightning Ridge's Chris Sargent (40 ret) started the recovery mission before a mix-up resulted in Wilson being run out.
Sargent and Brayshaw (40 ret) then added 93, and with a couple of handy contributions from Mead (27) and Armidale's Garry Yeomans (26) they kicked on to post 8-186.
It wasn't quite the 200 Wilson had in mind at the start of innings but was still, he felt, a competitive score.
As it proved to be.
Backing up from their efforts with the bat, Brayshaw and Sargent both grabbed two wickets and Mead four, as Central North dismissed the Sydney side featuring Brayshaw and Sargent's Narrabri team-mate, Adrian Schwager, for 130.
"The bowlers made it difficult for them to score, constantly picking up wickets through the innings," Wilson said.
Naturally the celebrations went "well into the night", which made for a long journey home.
