Cootamundra, who won the competition in 2018/19, had Yass reeling in the early stages of the match at Albert Park.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Goulburn stumbled to 7-54, before late partnerships between visiting captain Dane Stevenson and Josh Ryrie, and Stevenson and wicketkeeper Nathan Stewart, resurrected their innings.

When Stevenson was dismissed for 32 - also the highest score of the innings - Stewart then combined with Andrew Tivey to add another 42 for the last wicket, which was enough to propel Goulburn to 144.

"I actually thought that'd be plenty," Stevenson said of the total.

"Obviously it's not ideal, but considering the scenario we were in, 100 would've been nice."

The wicket had a good coverage of grass and hardened throughout the day. Though it became friendlier towards batsmen in the second innings, Goulburn's bowlers were more than equipped to take advantage.

"The wicket had hardened out a bit but there was still that nice little bit of grass on it, and we've got a lot of bowlers that stand the seam up," Stevenson said.

Cootamundra's opening partnership proved the most resilient, as Ryan Connell and Aaron Cronin steadily compiled 26 before they fell for 10 and 12 respectively.

From there, a steady procession of wickets tumbled as Goulburn tightened its grip on the game.

Former Cootamundra player, Tom McGregor, was the chief destroyer for the visitors, and took 4-32 from his seven overs to dismiss Cootamundra for 97.

"We've got a vast cricketing experience for guys who are pretty young," Stevenson said.

"It's nice to be given the opportunity to captain those fellas, and we did a really good job of playing a team game. Everyone did their bit when they had to in the field, or with the bat, or with the ball, and we did enough to win."

Goulburn will next play Wagga in Wagga, in the third and final Stribley Shield round on January 19, 2020.

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