Wagga RSL defeated South Wagga by three runs

After being dismissed for 145 in the 43^rd over, Bulldogs captain-coach Sam Perry knew he would have to take a few risks if they were to going to steal a win.

His decision to open the bowling with Sam Smith (3-32) and Ben Willis (1-24) proved a masterstroke while throwing the ball to Ethan Bartlett (3-20) arguably changed the game for the Bulldogs.

Perry said that he was glad his gambles paid off and he praised the efforts of his bowling lineup to dismiss the Blues for 142.

"We tried something a little bit different and opened the bowling with Sam Smith," Perry said.

"Him and Benny Willis really complemented each other greatly, it was a gamble that we took and thankfully it paid off.

"To remove Smeethy (Alex Smeeth) and Brayden (Ambler) for not many helps you a long way when you are trying to defend 140.

"But the biggest moment is when Barts came on to bowl, he hadn't bowled an over all year apart from in the T20's and we saw the competitive edge come out of him.

"He bowled 10 overs at 3-20 and he sort of changed the game and then little Charlie Munn at the end was able to reap the rewards and get the last couple of wickets and become the hero.

"It was a great day and the momentum changed back and forth all day."

It was an incredible performance to save the game for the Bulldogs who at multiple times throughout the afternoon looked like they were on the back foot.

Despite removing Ambler (11) and Smeeth (3) relatively early, Joel Robinson (49) and Luke Gerhard (31) then managed to get the game back on South Wagga's terms.

Bartlett claimed the important wicket of Gerhard to break the partnership before Smith dismissed Warren Clunes (6) and Nathan Cooke (0) in quick succession to have the Blues sitting at 5-94.

Robertson was the next to fall at 6-123 and despite some strong batting from Chase Grintell (26no), the Blues narrowly fell short as Bartlett and Munn cleaned up the tail.

It was a narrow escape for the Bulldogs and Perry admitted their performance with the bat was well below average.

"Yeah 145 was well below par," he said.

"I think both Ethan's looked really good but we just lost wickets too constantly and we couldn't build on our 25-run partnerships.

"That was our little goal and we couldn't quite get there after the first couple of wickets.

"We were aiming to get 200 and 140 was probably never going to be enough or it shouldn't have been enough.

"But thankfully we turned up with the ball and turned it our way.

"I said in the shed afterwards it's probably one of the better wins that I've been a part of at RSL."

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The win improves RSL's record to 4-2 and Perry admitted that it was going to be crucial to grab the tight games this season given the closeness of the competition.

"We mentioned it yesterday before the game," he said.

"South Wagga is probably one of those teams that we think is going to finish around us.

"For us to knock off South Wagga it's probably helped us a little bit and hopefully it helps us in the back half of the year."

Wagga RSL 145 (E Bartlett 42, S Smith 38; W Clunes 3-20, A Smeeth 3-27) d South Wagga 142 (J Robinson 49, L Gerhard 31; E Bartlett 3-20, S Smith 3-32)

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