THE Bathurst under 14s team have completed a perfect home-and-away season and will go into the Mitchell Cricket Council grand final full of confidence on Sunday week having smashed Orange on the weekend.

Playing in Orange against a side who match up with them well on paper, Bathurst were in some early strife with the bat before recovering to post an impressive total and from there the bowlers took over.

The 114-run victory was as comprehensive a performance as Bathurst coach Shane Broes could have hoped for, two weeks out from taking on the same opposition in the decider.

“We knew it was only a stepping stone for what is coming up, but it was a good psychological win to have under the belt going into that game,” he said.

“They picked up an early wicket from a fairly dubious leg-before, but the next pair [Nick Broes and Ben Cant] put on 117. That’s a pretty awesome effort in a game of under 14s cricket.

“Maybe with the bat we didn’t finish off the innings as well as we could have or as well as we did in the last game against Mudgee, but it was still a strong performance and we mixed the order around a little bit.

“When you get something near 190, nine times out of 10 you’re going to win in under 14s.”

Bathurst finished their innings at 7-184, recovering from 1-5 when Sam Hall was dismissed early.

Nick Broes finished with 68 to continue his stellar run of form, while Cant gave great support in making 42, and Ben Mitchell chipped in with 30, and Ethan Cusick made 19 not out late in the piece.

As Orange began their chase, they battled to get momentum thanks to the tight bowling of their opposition and for most of their innings the run rate barely got above two per over.

Mitchell took 1-4 from five overs with the new ball, while at the other end Brendan Pallier took 2-10 off five, and once the change bowlers came on Bathurst were well on top.

Cant really sunk the boot in thanks to his three wickets with his leg-spin, and Orange were all out for just 70 in the 31st over.

“Those first 17 overs with the ball had to be really tight, that’s what we spoke about and every bowler was basically in the channel and did exactly what they were asked,” the coach said.

“Orange was never able to get going, they weren’t given anything to score off and by the time Benny came on with his leggies he was able to knock them over in quick time.

“They actually won the toss and decided to bowl too, I’m not sure what the reasoning was behind that, but we thought all our Christmases had come at once and I don’t think they’ll be doing that again if they win the toss.”

Broes is happy with where his team is at going into the grand final, but is wary of Orange given the qualities he knows they possess.

“They have an older side than us, I think all of them except one are going into under 16s next year, where as we only lose three – that’s a great sign for our team for the future,” he said.

“Looking at the Orange team player for player, they have some fantastic cricketers and I’ve seen them do the job at district level and for Mitchell in the past, but they haven’t done it yet against us this season. I hope it stays that way in a couple of weeks.”