Leeton/Binya Milliken Shield side was victorious in this year’s shield final against Hay in Hay.

This is the first shield title for the combined outfit that started four years ago, with Leeton having their name on the trophy for the first time in 10 years.

In what was an intense and tight battle that ebbed and flowed all day, the boys were able to chase down Hay’s total and secure victory with two overs to spare. A fantastic game of cricket, played in the right spirit that both clubs should be proud of.

Hay won the toss and elected to bat on a beautiful day for cricket.

Leeton/Binya were on top early, removing two top order batsmen cheaply with the score sitting at 2/11 in the sixth over.

From there Hay were able to wrestle back momentum via a 53 run third wicket partnership between A Auldist and Shields. Both boys retired after batting brilliantly and making the most of their chances.

Leeton/Binya got back on top after taking 3/4 inside three overs which then saw the game evenly poised at 5/67 with eight overs to go.

Hay were able to put together a further 29 runs for the loss of three wickets to put up a respectable score of 8/96, almost mirroring their total in the first round clash between the two teams.

Leeton/Binya came out to bat and began their chase in a conservative fashion due to the tight bowling from the Hay side.

With the boys sitting at 1/10 after nine overs, opener N Bianchini broke the shackles by blasting an unbeaten 25 in quick fashion to retire with the score at 2/29.

With the batters looking to capitalise on the back of this innings, Hay had other ideas by taking two quick wickets seeing the combined outfit limping to 3/32 at the halfway mark of the innings.

With a big second half needed the first two overs only bore four runs and from there the loss of both captains cheaply saw Leeton/Binya needing five runs an over in the last 10 overs to secure victory.

Enter the Conlan brothers. Both boys batted calmly and intelligently, picking the gaps with ease, hitting the bad balls to the boundary, defending where necessary and running hard between the wickets.

Going at six an over they were able to steer the side to what looked like an improbable victory with 12 balls to spare.

Congratulations to both clubs on the day and well done to the Leeton/Binya players and families on capping off an outstanding season with victory.