The Blues went down by three wickets against Rugby at No.2 Oval, and while the dip in form is concerning the congested nature of the 2016/17 competition means hope isn’t lost.

While RSL-Colts are runaway leaders at the top of the table, the other five clubs are locked in a tight race for the other two positions in the top three, but according to Blues quick Jeremy Dickson, things need to change quickly.

“We just got outplayed,” Dickson said when asked what went wrong on Saturday.

“We have to find a way to score more runs. The way the comp is going 200 is becoming a par score and we fell short of that on Saturday, and Rugby really were untroubled in reply.

“CYMS beat us with enthusiasm, Colts beat us with ability, and Rugby beat us with both.”

“At the moment we’re feeling the effects of a lack of depth compared to what we had last season but we haven’t fallen out of contention and things can turn around pretty quickly if you win a couple of games because things are so tight away from Colts.”

Batting first on Saturday, the Blues failed to capitalise on a good start, and went from 1/43 after 10 overs to be all out for 167 in the final over of their innings.

Angus Norton top-scored with 36 while Jason Green (30), Keiran Brien (26) and Ben Taylor (23) all chipped in.

Jacob Hill (3/31) and Dan Horrocks (3/41) were the pick of Rugby’s bowlers.

In reply, Rugby started poorly as Dickson claimed the scalps of Glenn Shepherd (1) and Pat Berryman (1).

Chris Russo and Nathan Munro steadied the ship but when Brien dismissed Russo for 18 and in the same over got rid of Aidan Bennewith the game was up for grabs.

But Munro (54) and young gun Ben Wheeler (38) put on a vital 33-run stand and when Wheeler, who finished with 38, put on another 37 with Jacob Hill it took the game out of Macquarie’s reach.

Brien finished with figures of 4-35 off eight overs to be the best of his side’s bowlers as Rugby reached the target in the 34^th over.