ANOTHER 30 runs could have made all the difference.
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Camden Haven High School were eliminated from the Alan Davidson Shield on Wednesday when they suffered a four-wicket loss to Farrar High School.
After batting first, Camden Haven could only manage 80 in the knock-out match.
Connor Cook (24) provided momentary resistance during his side’s innings, but once he was dismissed for the seventh wicket, their innings was as good as over.
Farrar made hard work of the chase, eventually getting home for the loss of six wickets after a few nervous moments.
Camden Haven captain Kade Beauchamp could only manage six in the top order due to Farrar’s tight bowling that strangled the hosts.
“Their captain set pretty good fields and it was hard to pierce the field and score runs,” he said.
“All their bowlers bowled really well and kept it tight so there weren’t too many bad balls to put away.”
The North Coast champions qualified for the match after defeating Lismore in December, but their opponents from Tamworth provided a significant step up in class.
“At this level you know you’re not going to get too much so you need to play well and everyone needs to contribute,” Beauchamp said.
“They showed us how to bowl, how to set the fields and their bowlers bowled to their field and gave us nothing down leg.”
Coach Shane Williams was disappointed with the result, but proud of the way his team performed.
“We identified as a group that we didn’t reach our par score,” he said.
We didn’t deal with the pressure as well as we’d have liked.
- Camden Haven High School coach Shane Williams
“We lost two early wickets which changed the mindset of the players coming in who instead of playing their natural game, tried to consolidate.
“As a result we didn’t deal with the pressure as well as we’d have liked.”
Opening bowler Dan Adelt bowled well without luck and picked up an early wicket before Farrar cruised to 2/60 after 12 overs.
Camden Haven continued to fight hard and a slight middle order collapse saw the Tamworth side slip to 6/78.
“Dan bowled a lot quicker than the Farrar guys and was a bit unlucky not to get an extra decision or two go his way,” Williams said.
“Instead of being 2/20 they could have been 4/20 and then anything can happen.”
The majority of the side will return to defend their North Coast zone champion status when the competition starts again in term four.
Only Kade Beauchamp, Zac Alchin and Joel Barton will leave the side.
“The majority of our side are in year 10 so we’re only going to get better,” Williams said.