The team competed for the trophy at Goulburn, Nowra and Berry from October 15 to 22.

The Highlands team was previously merged with the Goulburn, and the team debuted as an individual side last year.

Highlands team member Joel Goring said the team was over the moon about the win.

“We were a really good team but a lot of teams had superstars,” Goring said.

“It was definitely a team effort, not relying on one individual. Everyone played their role.”

15/10/2017 Highlands vs. Goulburn

In order to qualify for the finals weekend we need to beat Goulburn at Sieffert Oval Goulburn.

We bowled first, rolling them for 137 with Cameron Pike taking 5 for 19.

In response, our batters convincingly got the runs with Dave Spies and Ben Wright the stand outs with 54 and 44 respectively.

That win meant we progressed onto the qualifying final the following weekend in Nowra.

21/10/2017 Highlands vs. South East (last year’s Burns cup winners) at Nowra Showground.

Winning the toss and putting them into Bat, our bowlers picked up form where they left off from the previous week.

Matt Pike was the pick tearing through them with 4 wickets.

In response, Jack Whitfield and Ben Wright again steered the innings home winning by 3 wickets.

22/10/2017 Highlands vs. South Coast

The Grand Final saw us compete at Berry on easily the worst pitch of competition.

Being sent into Bat in extremely tough conditions, the majority of our batters showed great resilience and determination to post a respectable 121.

Standout performers where Jack Whitfield and Cameron Pike with 17 and 21 not out respectively.

Going into the field we were up against it, defending a small total against a team that was strong favourites heading into the days play and with conditions favouring them. South Coast started strongly, however our bowling again  got us back into the game with 4 quick wickets shared amounts our opening bowlers.

From there South Coast were never in the game with our bowlers taking regular wickets throughout the innings. South Coast all out for 71. Jack Edwards claimed 4 for 13 off 10 overs and Alex Debs claimed 4 for 12 off 6.

A convincing win and the first time Highlands District has taken home the Burns Cup.

- Match reports by Joel Goring