Despite eventually falling well short of the opposition’s 170, they looked on track for an away victory as Jayden Galvin and Jarrod Watts put on an impressive middle order partnership, with the former bringing up his half century just after the drinks break.

However, once Galvin was dismissed the rest quickly followed as the skipper was run out and the tail end struggled to deal with the Bulls’ bowling attack.

The performance was arguably their most encouraging since their round one win over Brook Blue, and could’ve been a different story altogether had all-rounder Jake Bartush not been ruled out with a finger injury.

Fielding has significantly improved for the ninth-placed side too, with dropped catches becoming a rarity as opposed to habit.

It was a miserable day for Brook Blue on home turf though, as they received a 176-run thumping at the hands of Murrurundi.

There were some sporadic highlights though, as the league’s only female cricketer, Michelle Eckersley, picked up her first runs for the season and captain Peter Turnbull launched a towering six well over the boundary and into the nearby sandpits. 

He also took 4-42 as his season tally moved to 11, just one behind Cameron Eckersley who currently leads the race for the side’s wicket-taking award.

They were unable to remove Jake Chapple from the crease in a hurry though, as he made 80 on his team’s way to 252.

The Blues never got close with their top scorer, Brendan Taylor, making just 15 as the bottom-placed outfit collapsed to score 76 from 19 overs.

Going around the grounds, Merriwa chased down Aberdeen’s 142 to claim victory by six wickets, Andrew Clydsdale’s 95 helped Rouchel to a 131-run win over Belltrees and Bunnan won a close match against Bushrangers, catching the score with just one scalp left in hand.