Sitting in fourth going into the weekend's play, Colts made 5 declared for 277 before having Newtown 1-18 at stumps.

Combined with Macquarie's struggles at Rugby, the men in red are in prime position to steal a spot in the finals.

It was an impressive batting performance from the in-form Colts with Brad Cox the best of the bunch making 71 while Adam Barraclough (51), Chris Ying Sing (46 not out) and Aaron Morris (45) all helped put together a formidable total.

Cameron Herd was the pick of the Newtown bowlers, taking 2-25 from nine overs but he was then the batsman to fall when the Tigers had to bat the final eight overs of the day.

Geoff Wheeler was the bowler to strike trapping Herd in front in the fifth over for 1 but Elliot Carlin (10 not out) and Kel Blackett (0 not out) survived until stumps.

While Colts will be feeling confident of their finals chances they will also be wary of South Dubbo, also who are in finals contention, who had a hugely impressive day one against CYMS.

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Souths, sitting last going into the final round, need a huge win in order to leapfrog Newtown, Colts and Macquarie but they did their chances no harm on Saturday.

Taking on competition leaders CYMS, Souths posted 9 declared for 201 before picking up a late wicket to leave the Cougars at 1-13.

At 5-85 it seemed Souths' season was all but over with Troy Tracey (3-15 from eight overs) doing the bulk of the damage.

But 50 runs from Mick McCarthy helped the Hornets reach 200.

With stumps approaching, Souths opted to declare and have a crack at the Cougars lineup and that decision paid off when Neil Motbey had Gavin Weekes out for 9.

Stalwarts Dave McAlister (4 not out) and Daryl Thompson (0 not out) saw the Cougars through to stumps and will be tasked with leading the run chase next week.

CYMS will be determined to reach the target with the minor premiership and progress straight through to the grand final on the line.

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For Rugby and Macquarie the two camps were in very different moods by stumps on day one of their match at Lady Cutler 2.

Macquarie, needing a win to stay third and advance to the finals, were bowled out for 153 and then couldn't pick up a wicket late in the day as Rugby finished at 0-34.

With a CYMS victory far from certain Rugby will be boosted in their hunt for the minor premiership while Macquarie know they will need to defend their small total if they are any chance of finishing third.

Things got off to a horror start for the Blues on Saturday with Bart and Garry Goodman combining to have the score at 4-26 after 11 overs.

Young gun Dalton Medcalf made 48 to get things back on track but number 10 Sandeep Poonia (28 not out) was the only other batsman to show resistance.

Garry Goodman finished with 3-10 from 6.3 overs while Bart claimed 3-46 from 13.

Dale Watmore (22 not out) and Charlie Kempston (10 not) then saw it through to stumps to leave Rugby in prime position leading into day two.