Jacob Hill made 48 and bagged three wickets for Rugby, which at one stage was cruising towards its target of 194 but ultimately got there with just five balls remaining.

Youngster Ben Wheeler also chipped in with 62, as he and Hill shared a 110-run opening stand.

The win pushed Rugby back to top spot on the ladder, and with only one match remaining prior to the Christmas break, all-rounder James O’Brien said his side is in a good spot to make finals.

“We set ourselves a goal of being top three at Christmas and we’ll do that, so if we can win next week and be on top that’s even better,” he said.

“To get the win over Macquarie was good, because they’ve been in good form, and for our young blokes to step up was a great sign.

“The wicket was a bit two-paced so 193 was about par we thought, but it wasn’t an easy chase. They bowled pretty well.”

Blues skipper Keiran Brien won the toss and elected to bat first, but would have been questioning that decision when Hill removed Ed Haylock (0), Dan Medway (15) and Nick Cosier (10).

At that stage Macquarie was 3-34 after 11 overs, but some fight through the middle order got it back on track.

Jason Green made 26 and Dalton Medcalf 29, before Brien (59) combined with Jordan Flemming (27) for an 82-run stand that helped their side reach 9-193 off their 45 overs.

In reply, Hill and Wheeler took the score to 110 but when Hill fell to Luke Carman, it started a collapse that would eventually see Rugby 5-153 with seven overs to go.

But O’Brien held his nerve, making an unbeaten 35 as he guided his side home with a boundary off the first ball of the final over.

“It did get pretty tight there towards the end. I think when the first wicket fell our boys panicked a bit and we lost a few pretty quickly,” O’Brien said.

“But I was telling each of the blokes when they came out that we didn’t need to do anything silly.

“I thought James Hughes was bowling well so we looked to see him out and then try to score off the other bowlers.

“In the third last over I got dropped, it went for four and then the next one went for four as well and that released a fair bit of pressure because we needed to go about a run a ball at that stage.”

Rugby’s final game prior to the Christmas break will be played against Newtown at No.1 Oval next week while Macquarie will go head-to-head with the in-form South Dubbo in a vital clash at No.3 Oval.