Six wickets and nine maidens from Tassie Tigers-contracted player Jarrod Freeman saw Mowbray fall just short of a Cricket North two-day victory at Windsor Park on Saturday.
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Freeman bowled 30 overs in his one-off appearance for the club and finished with 6-60 but Riverside held firm in the dying overs to triumph.
The Blues were eventually all out for 237 from 96.5 overs chasing the Eagles' 230.
But the result could have gone either way as Riverside were eight wickets down with 14 runs to get.
The Blues' number eight batter Jack Colgrave, who scored 56 from 86 balls with seven boundaries, was there until the end.
"Mowbray had their tails up and their best bowlers bowling and it was just about getting to that 231 target," he said.
![Tassie Tigers player Jarrod Freeman took 6-60 in his one-off return for Mowbray against Riverside at Windsor Park on Saturday. Picture by Rod Thompson Tassie Tigers player Jarrod Freeman took 6-60 in his one-off return for Mowbray against Riverside at Windsor Park on Saturday. Picture by Rod Thompson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/brian.allen/cf820573-b3ce-4f54-9425-7754ff8eacb6.jpg/r586_465_3878_2447_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Colgrave lauded Freeman who eventually bowled him out.
"He's an absolute superstar of the game and it's really good for the competition to have him come back and play," he said.
"It's a great challenge for all us guys. We were all really excited for him to come back."
He added Freeman consistently hit his line and length and he was tough to score against.
"Jarrod was the pick of the bowlers and we were trying to score at the other end," he said.
Colgrave and fellow tail-ender Sol Scott (23) put on a crucial 60-run partnership that got the Blues to 8-217.
They followed the lead of middle-order batter Cooper Anthes who made a "courageous" 64 from 139 balls on his return from the Greater Northern Raiders.
"He showed a lot of maturity with that innings, he didn't mind if he faced a lot of dots," Colgrave said.
"He waited for his ball and he was the one that got is in a position to win the game. He showed his development as a player and as a person."
Riverside bounced back after losing Friday night's Twenty20 grand final to Westbury at Windsor Park.
Meanwhile, the Shamrocks are amazingly a chance to win three games across three formats in three days.
The Shamrocks, who resumed at 0-35 against Launceston, comfortably reeled in the Lions' 180 at NTCA no. 1.
They went on to be all out for 238 before Launceston batted again and finished 5-66 from 29 overs.
First-drop Mohammadzuber Diwan top scored with 43 as most of the Shamrocks got starts.
Skipper Joel Lloyd and Ollie Wood picked up the baton through the middle-order making 25 and 23 runs respectively.
Westbury went for it once they passed the target with just five wickets down.
Chathura Athukorala smacked three sixes on his way to 39 from 58 balls and Kieren Hume hit a quick-fire 30.
Westbury kept the pressure up when they bowled again with Lloyd snagging openers Cam Lynch (2) and Charlie Taylor (13) who were both caught.
Adam House, who played alongside his son Kristian for the first time in top-grade, praised Diwan and fellow top-order batter Jordan French (24) for how positively they tackled their assignment.
He noted they didn't get stuck at anytime and kept the run-rate flowing.
House was also impressed with the Shamrocks' bowlers for taking five quick wickets.
As for Sunday's one-day semi-final against South Launceston at Ingamells Oval, House said the team was looking forward to the challenge ahead.
"Ultimately, if we can pull off the three-peat type thing over the three days and win the semi, that would be huge for the club," he said.
"It would be one of the bigger weekends the club has had barring grand final wins."