Bush Blues and Bush Breakers have fallen short in their bids for national titles at the Australian Country Championships (ACC) in Toowoomba after both squads posted losses on Friday.
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The NSW Country men's team suffered three straight defeats to finish the tournament after reaching equal second on the overall standings earlier in the week, most recently going down to finalists Victoria (6-290) by 24 runs at Cahill Park Sports Complex in the last 50-over round.
A semi-final curse continued for the NSW Country women's side, beaten one game shy of a T20 decider for the third year in-a-row after South Australia reached 8-94 with six wickets in hand and 2.3 overs left.
It means neither outfit will play in Saturday's deciders.
Newcastle-based Bush Blues assistant coach Shane Burley said it was disappointing not be playing off for the main prize but admitted they missed too many "key moments".
Fellow Novocastrian and Bush Breakers mentor Neil McDonald said "we just weren't consistent enough".
ACC merit XI's will be named at Saturday night's presentation with NSW Country trio Kerrod White, Scott Burkinshaw and Naomi McDonald all in the mix.
Meanwhile, Bush Blues wicketkeeper Tom Groth (86) became the most capped ACC player of all time while Western Australian batsman Bevan Bennell went past the 1991-92 single-carnival aggregate of Peter Solway in scoring 574 runs.
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