The Butchers rocketed into second place on the ladder with the eight-wicket win and will head into next week’s one-day fixture full of confidence. 

Northern Districts captain Rhys Marsh said it was important his side finished off the job on Saturday after putting themselves in such a commanding position during last week’s opening day of play. 

“We got ourselves in a good position last week and it was all about capitalising on that this week,” Marsh said.

“The outright victory is massive, they don’t come along cheaply in this competition.

“It’s a massive boost for us, we’re sitting in second, and hopefully we can go better next week and beat Wollongong.”

British recruit Tom Hartley was the chief destroyer with the ball, taking six wickets on Saturday to bowl Port Kembla out for 118 and ensure his side’s batsmen were chasing just 56 to secure maximum points. 

After finishing least season seventh on the ladder, the Butchers have emerged as genuine finals contenders throughout the first half of the season. 

Marsh believes much of the improvement comes down to a belief within the side that they have the ability to match it with the competition’s top teams. 

“We’ve got the talent, it’s about the boys realising their talent and putting it on the field,” he said.

“We’ve underachieved in previous years, it’s just about putting that talent into practice. If we do, we can challenge those top teams.”

With first place on the ladder potentially on the line next weekend, Marsh is confident his players will turn up to North Dalton Park ready to play.

However, he recognises they must be at their best if they are to topple their opponents. Wollongong are in fine form of their own, losing just one match this season and riding high after a 44-run victory over University on Saturday. 

“We’re always confident we can win any game. The plan is to go there, do what we do well and hopefully things will fall into place,” Marsh said.

“We’re confident if we bowl first, we’ll be able to chase a target down and if we bat, we’ll set a total our bowlers can defend.”

In other matches on the weekend, Keira’s batsmen held firm, reaching 6-150 to secure an important victory over Balgownie.

A Patrick Hammond five-wicket haul was not enough to secure Dapto a victory, with Corrimal holding on to claim a tense one-wicket win over the Canaries. 

Finally, Helensburgh narrowly avoided an outright defeat, reaching 8-102 after Wests secured first-innings points and declared at 6-192 earlier in the day’s play.