Finals are almost beyond the reach of Bulls in this Bathurst Orange Inter District Cricket competition after they entered the Christmas break with one win from seven games.

Their season has been a mixture of easy dismissals with the bat, bright patches without rewards with the ball and frequent starts without a significant score with the willow.

If not for a bold final wicket stand from Tyler Horton last month Centennials would be staring down the barrel of a winless mid-season break.

So what's the good news?

Aubin brother Blake and Kyle have been consistent producers with the bat and ball respectively while Horton, Mick Hutchison and skipper Kurt Toole have all been on the verge of a breakout performance.

We caught up with Toole to get his thoughts on what the Bulls need to get right over the remaining six rounds.

PROGRESS has been slow and minimal.

After they started the season in horror fashion Bulls started to play their way into their games but still failed to find the extra touch of brilliance they needed to finish things off.

They were one wicket away from being handed a winless record - not exactly the finest position to be in at the halfway point of a season.

The dream isn't dead but Toole believes if the team holds stronger under pressure situations then it will be starting point to turning things around.

"It's frustrating when you get close and the game ends up going the other way, because the table doesn't reflect how close some of our games have been," he said.

"That's the most disappointing thing."

THE signs were there when Bulls opened the season with scores of 84 and 70 across their first two games.

Centennials certainly improved things in the batting department since then but nowhere near enough to rattle their opponents.

Bulls really needed to make a statement in their last game before Christmas against Orange City if they were going to stake a finals claim.

But the game once again exposed Centennials' inability to build up partnership when one batsman, in this case Kyle Aubin, looked ready to go on with the job.

Toole said it's the area which needs to improve most, and in 2020-21 they've almost run out of time to get that back on track.

"We've been able to go alright with the ball but it's definitely our batting which has been letting us down, but there have been a couple of guys like Blake and Tyler who have stood up for us," he said.

"The rest of the boys need to chip in as well because in a team sport one or two players can't do the work all of the time. That needs to change if we're going to get the results that we need.

"We picked up Daniel Bryant for the last two games before Christmas and he scored a 20-odd and 34 in his next game so he's added a lot of quality to our batting, and he also bowls well. Hopefully after a couple of games he can get into the swing of things."

THE work with the ball is what has kept Centennials in the contest across many of their games this season.

Much like last season it's been a solid team effort with the rock, as no single bowler has rocketed clear of the pack.

Horton leads the wicket takers tally with six wickets while Mick Hutchinson, Kyle Aubin and Ethan Muller all have five wickets.

Tim Ryan impressed in his call up to first grade recently with 3-22 and could be called upon again to lend a hand.

Toole said it's an area where the team can hold their heads high.

"Kyle has bowled pretty tight this year - as he always has done. He's probably been the pick of our bowlers," he said.

"Pete McCleary in our last game bowled 15 overs and got 3-30. Ethan Muller, our other young spin bowler, has been great for us as well. So our two slower bowlers have definitely done the job for us this year.

"For myself, I need to chip in a little bit more. I've been down on form this year, and on confidence. Hopefully after the Christmas break I can come back better for the boys."

IT'S the two players who have been doing the bulk of the damage with the bat - Blake Aubin and Tyler Horton - who Toole expects to play the biggest roles for the team in the back half of the season.

To date they've been the diamonds in the rough.

They had a minor slip up towards the mid-season recess but their skipper expects a bounce back in 2021.

"Tyler Horton's got himself a couple of starts. I'd like to see him go on with it and get a couple of bigger scores. He did that last year and this year he's been thereabouts again," he said.

"I'd expect Blake Aubin to bounce back after those last two games. I expect he's going to finish as our top run scorer. I reckon our new player Daniel Bryant could fire up soon too."

THEY'RE microscopic at best and kaput at worst.

It would be wrong to say 'It's time to look towards 2021-22' for the Bulls - there's still six rounds of cricket to go - but you would think a couple of outright victories in the remaining two-day games are needed to keep finals in the picture.

And those two-day games are still a month away.

Every team can technically still make the top four but for those currently outside that group there's only one position realistically left to take, since the leading three sides have started to break away.

Toole isn't ready to give in yet.

"You never say never. Obviously we know the chances are against us but they're very slim," he said.

"I wouldn't mind next season for the BOIDC to look at the possibility of a top five or six for finals. The reason I say that is that this season the top three spots are pretty much sorted and there's a handful of teams who are almost already out.

"I think having a top five or six gives down the bottom more of a chance and might make things more interesting."