A quickfire 91 from Nathanael Mooney helped Mater Dei Catholic College to just their second ever Byrnes Shield success on Monday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mater Dei ended the recent dominance of The Riverina Anglican College (TRAC) with a 43-run win in the final at Geoff Lawson Oval.
Mooney set the Bolton Park complex alight with 91 off 50 balls to guide Mater Dei to a total of 3-164 from their 20 overs.
TRAC were left to rue a missed chance off Mooney in the fifth over, when three players collided when looking to take a catch.
Mooney made them pay with an entertaining innings that saw the ball end up inside the Jim Elphick Tennis Centre on a couple occasions.
TRAC could only manage 8-121 in reply.
Mater Dei sports coordinator Nathan Irvine was pleased to see the college back up on top of schoolboy cricket in Wagga.
"It's only the second time we've won it so the boys were pretty excited about that," Irvine said.
"Since we last played in a grand final in 2014, we ended up the next year relegated to Pool B and we haven't been able to get out there since.
"So we hadn't even played in a semi since 2014 and we could have been knocked off in the pool game by Kooringal this year and not even make it to the semis again."
Mater Dei got home in a final over thriller against Kooringal High School to qualify for the semi-finals, then dispatched of Kildare Catholic College in impression fashion to win through to the final.
The college had high hopes for this year's team, with the age group having success in the Berg Shield competition, for years seven to nine, three years ago.
Ed Grigg (41) was another standout for Mater Dei in the final. He scored 41 in an opening stand of 136.
Kyle Hockley was the pick of Mater Dei's bowlers with 3-20 off four overs.
Sam McCready led the way for TRAC with 48 in the chase.
READ MORE
