Cobram destined for finals

But not even Decicco could hold up for long before an onslaught from Nathalia’s Ash Quinn (4-31 from 23), who went on to also claim the wicket of veteran Shaun Downie (6 from 13) and bowled Cobram skipper Jimmy Daniel out for a golden duck.

But Cobram’s efforts were enough to send the Tigers past Nathalia’s first innings posting of 115. An in-form Tyron Baden later arrived at the bottom of the order to post 38 from 69 and take the Tigers to 10-131.

With Baden, Cobram was all-out for 131 in the 67th over, allowing it to take the first-innings win.

Rory Knight (3 from 12) took up the willow for Nathalia in its second innings before being sent packing off the delivery of Jeremy Baden (2-15 from seven).

Baden would be joined later by co-coach Lachlan Hyde (2-13 from seven) and Chase Hardwidge (1-0) to constrain the visitors to 5-31 in their second innings.

When the sky opened up, captains Brenton Campbell and Jimmy Daniel shook hands. The match was over, with Cobram taking the spoils in first-innings points.

Cobram leadership will have talks on team selection ahead of the upcoming semi-finals across the C, B and A-grades, Cobram co-coach Lachlan Hyde said.

“It was good to get the win and secure that second spot so we can hopefully have a home final,” Hyde said.

“We might have not scored really quickly, but we were able to string a few longer overs out between wickets.

“It was good to see a few boys have some time out in the middle.”

That included Chase Hardwidge and Hyde’s younger brother Eamon Hyde.

“It was good to see them getting some time out at the wicket,” Hyde said.

Hyde said he was happy to see his side’s bowlers, including himself and teammate Jeremy Baden, work up some confidence with the ball going into finals.

“Once we got bowled out, we thought we came out and bowled really well for that little bit,” he said.

The Tigers again face Nathalia this weekend with a spot in the grand finals up for grabs.

Hyde said his side would take the same mindset to the semi-final as it had across the season.

“We'll keep backing ourselves and stick to our plan,” he said.

“They've got some really classy players on their side, so we won't have our work cut out for us.

“We’re going to have to work really hard for it.”