Rugby Union and City Colts to play for Bathurst District Cricket Association second grade title

Rugby and Colts distanced themselves from the rest of the competition at the top of the ladder from the outset and never really lost their way at any stage.

The blue and gold go into the decider as favourites, having beaten the Colts in the recent major semi-final.

Rugby skipper Chris Albon said it's been a delight to watch his squad produce excellent team performances week after week.

"It's been a team performance. I've had a good season but from a personal point of view I've tried to keep myself out of it and leave it up to the other guys," he said.

"I feel like the team I've got this year is like a really good President's Cup side, with a lot of juniors who are Bathurst and Western reps. Those team performances have been what has put us here. It's been a great team to captain."

Rugby stopped Colts 22 runs short of the target in the major semi-final, and in the other two games earlier this season Rugby were victors by four and two wicket margins.

"We've played them three times this year, beaten them three times, but all three of those games have been close. They're a strong team and I'd say that the best two teams in the comp have made the final, when you see how far ahead the two of them were ahead of the other sides," Albon said.

"I set my sights on a minor premiership ... and for that reason I'd already call this a successful season. If we can get this one it will be the icing on the cake.

"We can't take Colts lightly though. If they perform well on the day then they can beat anyone."

Colts took the long path to the grand final, and had to fight their way past Bathurst City in a 34 run preliminary final win to get themselves through.

The loss of their skipper and the competition's leading run scorer at the time, Brad Molenkamp, was a big blow but the captain has been pleased with how the team has fought their way to the last day of the season.

"The boys rallied after a couple of losses after leading most of the year, with both of those losses being to Rugby Union. They've beaten us three from three times but we do believe that we can knock them off on Saturday," he said.

"They've had a great season. James Smith is currently the leading wicket taker in second grade and we've got Paul Morris and Ross Thompson, who have previously won premierships in the BOIDC. There's a couple of kids like Connor Brown and Charlie Rendall who are the future of our cricket club.

"Our cricket club is an ageing one, so the President's Cup piece has been a really good one this season. We needed to make an investment in youth to sustain us for the future and we've done that."

The game on Morse Park 1 starts 1.30pm on Saturday.

Rugby Union will also be involved in the day's third grade grand final at Learmonth Park against Bathurst City, which gets underway at 12pm.

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