BELMONT skipper Luke Muddle admitted he was half-inclined to pull up stumps early before his teammates persuaded him to "have a crack" at chasing an outright victory against Hamilton-Wickham at Cahill Oval on Saturday.
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About 90 minutes later, the Seagulls became the first team of the Newcastle District Cricket Association first-grade season to clinch maximum points.
In a remarkable finish, Belmont rolled the visitors for just 52 in their second dig, to win by an innings and two runs.
In reply to Hamwicks' day-one tally of 122, Belmont declared at 8-176, a lead of 54, and needed just 27.4 overs to bundle out a Hamwicks team minus captain Ben Balcomb, who was on rep duty.
"I was weighing up whether to shake hands and call it a day, but in the end the boys were keen to have a crack," Muddle said. "So we went for it, and fortunately we bowled good line and length, stump to stump, and the wickets just kept tumbling."
Muddle (4-27) led from the front, claiming a wicket with his first ball, and was ably assisted by Jarod Baxter (4-9) and Connor Gibson (2-5). "The boys have had a taste of winning outright now, so hopefully that just makes them all even hungrier," Muddle said.
Adding to their sense of satisfaction, Belmont got the job done in the absence of Newcastle all-rounder AJ Isherwood and veteran paceman Jamie Heath, who was unavailable.
Meanwhile, at Waratah Oval, Waratah-Mayfield were left ruing the 23 runs they needed for an outright against Toronto.
After a spectacular innings of 161 from opener Sean Lynch - who has spent most of the season in second grade - Waratah declared at 5-273 in reply to the visitors' 139.
The Kookaburras posted 174 in their second innings and, crucially, survived for 66.2 overs, leaving Waratah with only three overs to bat. They finished on 2-18.
The other century-maker on the weekend was Merewether skipper Josh Geary, who scored an even hundred in vain as his team finished 21 shy of Cardiff's 226 at Townson Oval.
At Wallsend Oval, the champions bounced back from last week's Tom Locker Cup final defeat against Newcastle City to beat Wests by 100 runs.
Veterans Joseph Price (47) and James King (76) gave the Rosellas some hope but Wallsend's 344 was always going to be a tall order.
At No.1 Sportsground, City ground out a convincing victory against Stockton (189), losing only six wickets in chasing their total.
At University Oval, Charlestown quick Daniel Bailey took 4-66 to dismiss Uni for 149 in reply to 221.
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