Shane Devoy stood at the top of his mark in the hope of finding "that one ball".
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When he found it to secure Tuggeranong Valley a one-run win and a place in the Cricket ACT Douglas Cup finals, just about all he felt was relief.
Devoy took 5-49 to help Tuggeranong over the line by the barest of margins against Weston Creek Molonglo at Stirling Oval on Saturday.
Tuggeranong arrived on day two in a perilous position, sitting at 9-173 - and they wouldn't add another run before Djali Bloomfield (5-41) claimed his fifth scalp for Creek.
But then it was Nikesh Joseph's (2-13) time to shine, and he "bowled the house down with the new ball" to reduce Creek to 3-21 in the run chase before they stumbled to 7-84.
It seemed as though Creek veteran John Rogers would steer his side over the line with two wickets in hand - but things took a turn when he fell to Devoy for 38, still 42 runs behind.
Bloomfield (23 not out) and Joe Slater (14) added 41 for the final wicket before Devoy had the latter caught behind to cap off a miraculous turnaround.
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"It's a feeling of relief, I think most cricketers view that moment the same," Devoy said.
"There's always a lot that goes into any performance, and cricket is a sport where you fail more than you succeed.
"To have a moment like that brings a feeling of relief and a little bit of happiness.
"Both clubs have got a pretty healthy respect for each other, built up over a number of close contests over the past four or five years.
"We were just hopeful we would have that one ball to make the difference."
Six first innings points are enough to secure Tuggeranong (26 points) a place in the top four.
"I'm not sure at the start of the season we necessarily had premierships in mind," Devoy said.
"We still look at Weston Creek and Wests as the strongest clubs in Canberra at the moment.
"We've got a very young group, but they're a group that are quite happy to learn and happy to respond from any failures.
"To win a comp this year, I would say that's ahead of our timeline. For us it's about getting better week to week and seeing what those young guys can do for us."
ANU are set to end their six-year finals exile after Adelaide recruits Hanno Jacobs (58) and Luke Crocker (23) rescued the Owls against North Canberra-Gungahlin.
The hosts needed to chase down 178 for first innings points, but fell to 7-114 before Jacobs and Crocker added 77 for the eighth wicket.
The Owls pushed for an outright victory but almost found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreline as the contest took a turn.
Norths were rolled for 146 in their second dig with Ben Mitchell taking 6-44, before the skippers shook hands with ANU at 6-37 in reply.
ANU are now on 24 competition points, with fifth-placed Queanbeyan needing a minor miracle to qualify in the final round.
Ginninderra fell agonisingly short of claiming a first innings win over Western District at Jamison Oval, with the hosts finishing on 9-205 in reply to the Tigers' 5-262 (dec), which was set up by a superb Dylan Faram century (125 not out).
AT A GLANCE
Cricket ACT Douglas Cup: TUGGERANONG VALLEY 173 (M Barrington-Smith 54, N Joseph 32; D Bloomfield 5-41, B Faunce 4-78) bt WESTON CREEK MOLONGLO 172 (J Rogers 38, J Myburgh 30; S Devoy 5-49, N Joseph 2-13) on first innings at Stirling Oval.
ANU 198 and 6-37 (N Groenewegon 12, B Mitchell 8; H Jones 2-12, S Taylor 2-19) bt NORTH CANBERRA-GUNGAHLIN 178 and 146 (D Jackson 42, A Vala 22; B Mitchell 6-44, A Haroon 2-17) on first innings at ANU South Oval.
GINNINDERRA 5-262 (dec) (D Faram 125*, B Thomas 73; S Murn 2-75, E Bartlett 1-7) drew with WESTERN DISTRICT 9-205 (J Cooke 85, B Dean 31; L Ryan 3-53, J Anumolu 2-27) on first innings at Jamison Oval.