JAMIE Fleming remembers the day vividly.
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Newcastle were on the ropes, reduced to 5/47 chasing Illawarra's 189 in the 2013 Country Championships final.
Oscar Oborn-Corby was near unplayable. Illawarra was set to take home the Country title.
And then Joe Price walked to the crease.
Dropped twice, Price scored 74 not out to lead his side to a thrilling one-wicket win.
It's a crushing defeat that Fleming still feels six years later.
"It still burns me to this day," Fleming said. "We had them 5/47, we had it and then they got back into it.
"I was talking with Adam (Berwick) about it on Sunday, it still burns us. I still think about it, it's something I won't get back, but this week is a great opportunity to make amends."
This Sunday, the Balgownie veteran finally gets his chance at redemption when he leads Greater Illawarra Zone, featuring Batemans Bay product Rhys Voysey, into the Country Championships final against Newcastle at Keira Oval.
Fleming will be joined by Berwick and Dale Scifleet, who both played in the 2013 defeat, the last time a side from the region has contested a Country Championships final.
Having experienced so many years of Country Championships heartbreak, Fleming knows how tough it is to progress to the final and he's determined to ensure the side is at their best on Sunday.
"It would be a big achievement for this team to win the Country Championships. In the end, all I want to do is win. I don't care how we do it, who scores runs or takes wickets, I just want to win.
"If we could bring this title home to Greater Illawarra in our second year, hopefully it will encourage more cricketers to play representative cricket.
"For me and some of the older guys, we've been playing Newcastle sides for the last 10 years and losing. They've been the number one country side in NSW for the past 10 years. We'e been on the bad end of some losses to Newcastle in that time.
"When we beat them last year, it was just the second time I'd beaten them in 15 years. I don't take that lightly, it's time we get something back on them."
Fleming highlighted Greater Illawarra's victory over Newcastle in last year's Country Championships as proof his side can prevail on Sunday.
That match saw Rhys Voysey and Nate Jones dominate with the ball, before Graeme Batty anchored the run chase with an impressive 86.
While Greater Illawarra will take plenty of confidence out of the victory, Fleming expects Newcastle to arrive in Wollongong determined to avoid a repeat showing.
"We dusted them last year, they wouldn't have liked that.
"But we're not going to lie down for anyone. We won't be turning up just to make up the numbers. This is an exciting opportunity for this squad.
"This is a team of competitors and that's what I want as a captain, 11 people who will compete, scratch, fight, claw their way through. There will be no giving up on Sunday."
