North Canberra-Gungahlin hold on for epic victory

And as ANU needed five off the last ball of the day to steal a second-innings win, Forrest was thinking the worst as quick Samuel Taylor delivered a short-pitched ball to Luke Crocker.

Luckily for Norths the umpires deemed Crocker's shot to have just landed in the field of play before going over the rope, awarding a four, meaning Norths held on for a one-run second-innings victory in round one of the Douglas Cup.

"I was a long way away; I saw the ball and it was an ordinary ball and I was thinking I hope it gets down. And it just did ... It was just inches in it in the end," Forrest said.

"Any win, it doesn't matter if you beat quality like ANU or not, it is just good to sing the song.

"I personally played here last 2007 and had 13 years off before coming back at the start of last year and I missed the couple of games we won last year. So, it's going to be pretty good once we get in the sheds."

Norths were looking comfortable winners after setting ANU a target of 220 and bowling them out for 163 earlier in the first innings.

Young spinner Finlay McGurk starred for Norths in their first innings, taking 5-57 off 27 overs which included 12 maidens.

However, their second innings would see ANU knock Norths over for just 92, setting them a target of 149 for victory.

And ANU would go heartbreakingly close, finishing 8-148 off 14 overs at the close of play, with Crocker almost sealing ANU an unlikely win.

"We shot ourselves in the foot in the second innings. We batted really well up until tea in the first innings and put ourselves in a good position," Forrest said.

"We then came out and bowled really positively today, gave ANU absolutely nothing then I think the boys thought the job was done.

"Then we came out and did an extremely poor job with the bat and let ANU in the game and to their credit, they are a good enough team that they nearly got themselves over the line."

Meanwhile, Tuggeranong finally got to step foot on the field this season after having their first four games washed out, claiming a huge 172-run first-innings victory over Eastlake.

Shane Devoy smashed 157, while Josh Staines also scored an important 90 to set Eastlake a mammoth total of 334 for victory, with Tuggeranong knocking them over for 171.

New skipper Blake Ivery stated the side were thrilled to finally get on the park and begin with a strong win.

"It feels unreal, the boys were just really happy just to get out there and play our first game. Really pumped to get the win and that everyone chipped in for it," he said.