DUMBLETON have retained their Marsh Commercial U16 T20 title after showing plenty of character on finals day at Rockhampton to overcome both Thornbury and Golden Hill in close encounters.
Openers Joe Tagg and Tommy Boorman both retired after reaching 50s for Dumbleton in their semi-final against Thornbury, helping their side rattle up an imposing 179-0.
But Thornbury fought valiantly in reply, captain Ahmed Syed also retiring after reaching his half century, and came up only seven runs short as James O’Brien captured 2-4 from his two.
This result put Dumbleton into the final against Golden Hill, who had a walkover in their semi-final after Cheltenham withdrew.
Boorman was once again in fine form, finishing unbeaten on 58 in a challenge of 132-9 as spinner Dan Broome claimed 3-13 from four while there were also two wickets apiece for Will Schofield and Jacob Stevenson.
Golden Hill, in reply, also finished just seven runs shy at 125-7 with Dan Broome (25) and Charlie Allan (24) their top scorers in a tremendous contest that went down to the wire.
The batting award for the day went to Dumbleton’s Tommy Boorman, who hit two unbeaten half centuries, while Golden Hill’s Dan Broome took the bowling honours for his return of 3-13 with the fielding award going to team-mate Jacob Stevenson for an excellent one-handed catch on the boundary.