When the Astor Rats' Isaac Walker was caught by Crookwell's Nick Skelly on the boundary of the Grange, attempting what would have been the match-winning six, it sparked raucous celebrations from the locals.
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It was Crookwell's first win of the 2021/22 season, and had come over a team which captain Jake Paterson felt was one of the best in the competition.
"It was a really good win for us," Paterson said.
"The Rats have got a really good team this year, they're definitely one of the dark horses for the comp."
Leading into the game on Saturday, Crookwell languished at the bottom of the Goulburn District Cricket Association First Grade ladder with no wins and three losses.
The Rats, meanwhile, sat second with two wins which had come over Marulan and the Coolavin - both sides which were tipped to be grand final contenders prior to the season.
But Paterson wasn't fazed by his side's form on paper. They had been competitive, and he knew the team's best performance was just one good game away.
"We may have lost our first few games, but we haven't been losing by much or getting flogged," he said.
"We've been really competitive, we've posted higher scores than we have most years and have actually been playing good cricket. It's not like we couldn't have won, it was just a matter of taking those chances and we would win."
Paterson grabbed the first chance he had on Saturday, when he won the toss and elected to bat first on the notoriously unpredictable Grange wicket.
The innings was carried early by Nick Skelly's knock of 57, which earned him praise from the skipper.
"He's always going to be such a talented cricketer," Paterson said.
"As soon as he came into the team, he gave us all confidence. He wanted to open and get out there, and he just knows his cricket. Seeing him go out there and see off Isaac, get through the opening openers and get on with it was really good."
Skelly was supported by Hamish Hammond (15), Zac McGregor (24), Danyon Bush (20), and Paterson himself (21).
Despite a middle-order collapse, the captain was pleased with Crookwell's eventual total of 9-160 from its 40 overs.
"Originally we were aiming for 200 because we got off to such a good start," Paterson said.
"We got to drinks 1-84, and we were looking really good. And then I played a stupid shot after drinks which didn't do us any favours, and led to a mini-collapse.
"We really let the foot off the pedal a bit ... but we were really happy to get over 150, which was our second target."
Initially, it looked as though Paterson's concerns were unfounded as the Rats' top order collapsed. But at 6-31, the visitors' two best batters came together at the crease to put on a 97-run stand.
Andrew Munroe (40) and Isaac Walker (77) have been the Rats' form batters in 2021/22 - a fact of which Crookwell was well aware.
Due to some missing first-choice bowlers, Paterson brought on some part-time spin in the middle overs to change the pace of the game, but the pair in the middle simply continued their onslaught.
After Munroe fell, Walker kept scoring freely as wickets tumbled at the other end.
By the last over of the game, the Rats needed just a handful of runs while Crookwell needed a single wicket.
But Walker was in no mood to nurdle his way to the target. He lofted the ball high, handsome, and straight to the fielder early in the over.
When the catch was dropped, Paterson and the rest of the Crookwell players were dejected.
"We all thought 'Oh no, that was the chance'," he said.
"But then Isaac played the same shot to the same person, who took the catch. It was just a relief, because we knew we needed to get a win.
"Especially because we didn't have a full-strength team, we knew that this would give us a lot of confidence."
The Crookwell bowlers spread the wickets fairly evenly, as Tom Croker took 3-30, Finbar Shields took 2-9, and Josh Paterson took 1-25. But the standout in the captain's eyes was Zac McGregor, whose 3-18 he considered match-winning.
"Zac McGregor is one of the most underrated cricketers in the Goulburn comp," Paterson said.
"He always bowls so well, he and Tom really tied them down ... all of our seamers bowled really well and really tight.
"I think all-around that's the best bowling performance we've had for a long time."
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