A man of the match performance by all-rounder Nick Bower kept City United's unbeaten record intact in a hard-fought close contest against Port Stephens.
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For the second week in a row, Port Stephens were on the wrong side of a thrilling finish falling just six runs short of a 179 target set by City.
Bower proved the difference with an all-important inning of 40 and 4-42 as City managed to restrict Port’s batsman.
City skipper Matt Trappel elected to bat when he won the toss and it looked like it may have backfired with Port’s bowlers well on top to have City reeling at 5-53.
“A partnership from Michael Heinrich 38 and Nick Bower 40 got us back on track,” Trappel said.
“Nick continued to build a partnership with Ben Davies who finished on 44 not out to show great fight and depth in our batting line up to post very competitive 178.”
At 3/33 the Pythons were in trouble, but the Moxey brothers Jarrod (63) and Josh (43) shared in a 73-run partnership to turn the advantage Port’s way, however, spinners Heinrich and Bower grabbed the brothers’ wickets and City heaped on the pressure.
When Bower dismissed Ricky Mace for 21, City were able to seal a hard-fought victory.
An outstanding 80 by Jaymes Thomas and an even performance with the ball got the points for Raymond Terrace against Thornton.
The Lions restricted Thornton to 8/181 and reached their target with five wickets in hand with four overs to spare for their third win from five rounds.
