In the end it was the Tigers who stood tall, holding on for a seven-run victory over Deni.
The Rhinos looked to be cruising at 4/114 chasing Cobram’s 157, but when Brad Todd’s (20) wicket fell — in an Andrew Hogan and Lewis McShane run-out — the momentum shifted.
Todd was found short of his ground when pushing for a single, kickstarting a collapse of 6/36 to have Deni all-out for 150 in the 77th over.
Rhinos batsmen Andrew Hogan (the second player of the same name in the game) was his side’s top-scorer with 67, but James Daniel (3/21 off 15.2 overs), Adam De Cicco (3/48 off 26) and Ewald Roberts (2/14 off 11) were able to bowl the Tigers to a landmark triumph.
Despite being on the losing end Todd was quite upbeat about the result.
‘‘We know we can match it with the benchmark, we just need to get a few more batting partnerships to help post a big total,’’ he said.
‘‘We have been losing wickets in clumps so we need to dig in and make sure it doesn’t happen going forward.
‘‘Decicco and Jimmy Daniel were the pick of their bowlers. They bowled good lines and didn’t allow us easy scoring options.
‘‘This game just reassured that we can mix it with the good sides and if we bat well we can either chase or set a total to defend with the ball.’’
Resuming from 2/19 after 13 overs, the day started with Angus Campbell and Ben Irwin at the crease.
Both Campbell (four) and Irwin (19) were remove relatively early in the day, bringing Hogan and Todd to the middle.
The experience pair put together an impressive 82 run partnership before the wicket of Todd swung momentum back in favour of the visitors.
The Rhinos crumble from that point, losing their next four wickets for just 20 runs, sitting at 9/134.
It was a 16-run final wicket partnership between Liam Pitts (20) and Dylan Rotherham (one not out) that gave the Rhinos some hope on Saturday.
But when Pitts was bowled by Daniel, it was heartbreak for the home side, with their innings coming to an end at 150 runs.
Todd said it was a solid effort by the tail-end to score some late runs for the side.
‘‘It shouldn’t get to that point, our batsmen should have made the total so the bottom order didn’t have to,’’ he said.
‘‘It was good to see Pittsy get some runs as it will be a great confidence boost for him to know that if he knuckles down he can not only survive but also play his shots and score quite freely.’’
The Rhinos will look to bounce back when they host Tocumwal for day one of their two-day clash on Saturday.
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