The Maitland girls will play Illaroo Road Public School, from near Nowra, after dominating the Hunter section of the Primary Schools Sports Association competition.

The match will be played at Maitland Park on Tuesday, December 9.

Coach Ryan Lindsay said it’s the furthest any Maitland Public School team had progressed in the PSSA competition.

“The boys have never got this far and for a lot of the girls it’s their first year so we’re really excited,” Lindsay said.

“We will basically be hosting the semi-finals and grand final in what is a major boost for the school’s chances.”

Lindsay said the secret to the side’s success was to get the girls enthusiastic about cricket and having fun.

“I’ve tried to get them thinking about cricket outside of school and changed the sport from something they had to do to something they want to do,” Lindsay said.

One player’s whose enthusiasm has been key for Maitland Public School’s progress is Naomi McCann, whose tidy bowling restricted Mulbring Public School’s total in the match, which landed the school’s its semi-final berth.

For Lindsay, a former Raworth Rabbitohs player, it will be his fifth and final year with the team after taking a teaching job in Canberra for 2009.

“It took a while to build up our team over the years, but we’ve been improving every year,” Lindsay said.

“We made the Hunter final a few years ago and hopefully we can go that one better and win the State final before I go.

“I will be happy if we turn up and run fourth. But I doubt the girls will let that happen, they can’t wait to play.”