ADAM Ryan has certainly endured his share of tough days with St Pat's Old Boys, so when he got to lay his hands on the Royal Hotel Cup trophy on Friday night it was a moment he relished.
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It was the maiden grand final win for the Saints' first XI, highlighting just how far the club has come since it was formed in 2011.
The Saints are no longer strugglers. Now they are genuine contenders in all formats.
This season marked the Saints' debut in the Twenty20 Royal Hotel Cup, with Ryan's men suffering just one loss on their way to glory.
On Friday night the Saints made 3-143 at Wade Park before restricting Orange City - the outfit who had beaten it in the pool rounds - to 7-120.
"It's sensational. The game went quick and there were a few nervy moments, a few dropped catches, but it was amazing feeling when that last ball was bowled and we knew that results was sealed," skipper Ryan said.
"It was just fantastic."
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While the Saints were the best performed Bathurst District Cricket Association team in last season's one-day rounds, made the two-day grand final and went undefeated through the 2018-19 Twenty20 fixtures, Friday was the first time they had clinched a trophy.
"When it started we knew we had to put in some tough years, but we knew we'd have some talented kids coming through. We knew we just had to develop them," Ryan said.
"That its now got to the stage where things are happening for us, it's just unreal.
"I think things started changing a year or two ago when teams started not bowling first against us. It used to be if teams won the toss they'd bowl first to try and go for the outright, to go for the easy kill.
"But when they started winning tosses and batting, we knew we'd gotten to a level where we'd earned respect and people weren't taking us lightly."
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With the Royal Hotel Cup now in their possession, Ryan is hoping his Saints can use the confidence and experience that comes with it to go on and clinch the Bathurst premiership.
"We played in the grand final last year, that was an amazing game and a real tight contest and to play one this year and finish it off, it gives us more experience in the big arena," he said.
"Hopefully as a team we can take that into what the two-day finals hold this year. We just have to make sure we don't get too far ahead of ourselves.
"It's the definitely the best season I've been a part of. I know I said that last season, but this trumps it … it's certainly been the most favourite season I've had."