Led by brilliant bowling performances from Jeremy Thackray (5-33) and Jonah Ruzgas (4-43) Rugby Union had St Pat's Old Boys all out for 139 to leave the Saints three runs short of their tally, ending a gruelling and compelling 80-over inning at the Sportsground.

It had been 358 days since St Pat's had been bested across any first grade cricket format but the Rugby attack turned up ready to put a stop to that.

For Thackray it's not a day he's going to forget in a hurry.

He put Saturday's success on a pedestal right up there with Rugby's Bathurst District Cricket Association grand final win in 2017-18.

"It's one of the best wins I've been involved in for some time," he said.

"We played the grand final against Pat's a few years ago when they needed one wicket to win but we held them out. That was a cracking game. In terms of wins in Bathurst that's probably second to that grand final."

Rugby securing the wickets of Bailey Brien and Adam Ryan before either could do too much damage with a boost for the blue and golds, but the Saints lower order had some fight in them.

Mitch Taylor came close to being an unlikely hero with the bat as he brought up a patient 27 runs before Jameel Qureshi clean bowled him to wrap up an unforgettable day.

"The boys chipped away all day," Thackray said.

"They had an attitude that if they could bat for a long time then they'd win, and we had the attitude of if we can toil away and get a couple of wickets we could be a chance. We both had the right idea but we were the ones who ended up with the win.

"You're putting pressure on your next batsman if you get out and you're not trying to score so we were happy to play the long game, bowl line and length and set good fields.

"It was going to be hard work for the bottom order, who really haven't done a lot for Pat's this year because the top order has been so dominant.

"Jonah and I bowled in a good partnership. He got the early breakthroughs and I got the reward at the end of the day."

The result has also played havoc with the race for a major semi-final spot.

St Pat's have surrendered top spot on the ladder to Orange City, who found an outright victory over City Colts and now lead by four points (61 to 57).

Rugby are now threatening the Saints' top two spot as they sit just two points adrift.