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By BEN WALKER
RSL-COLTS have a firm grip on a finals spot heading into the mid-season break after scoring a tight two-wicket win over arch-rivals Rugby on Saturday.
In typical Colts fashion they were able to find a way to win after appearing long odds at various stages throughout the day.
Resuming on 2-34 in reply to Rugby's first innings total of 159, the RSL side made things a lot tougher than they would have expected when they showed up on Saturday.
Matches between the two sides are always hard-fought contests though and Rugby turned up with renewed vigour and pushed hard from the outset.
Greg Buckley (7), Chris Morton (6), Jason Ryan (9) and Sean Mason (6) all fell relatively quickly in the early stages of the day as the ascendency swung quickly to Rugby and Colts limped to 6-72.
But a 29-run stand between Aaron Morris and Wes Giddings steadied things for Colts.
The experienced duo were able to halt Rugby's run but the drama didn't end there.
When Morris fell to Ben Taylor (5-68) and Nathan Jones followed soon after Rugby were within two wickets of victory but Giddings again had a willing ally to help him.
Jono Woodbridge, batting at 10, came to the crease and played a composed innings alongside his senior partner.
Together they piled on a 53-run stand that got their side over the line and helped them consolidate second position on the ladder. Giddings finished unbeaten on 52 while Woodbridge compiled a very mature 21.
Taylor was the pick of Rugby's bowlers as he continues his return from surgery early in the season while youngster Ben Patterson got through a mountain of work and was rewarded when he finished with figures of 3-40 from 17 overs.