After sitting in eight place with just one win after round six, the Scone side has won four out of their last five fixtures to catapult themselves into top four contention.

They now sit equal fifth on points, just percentage behind Aberdeen who were forced to share a result against Rouchel at the weekend as the match was washed out.

The Bulls did take to the field however, and continued their red hot form against Bunnan, winning an absolute thriller at Saunders Oval.

Batting first, Bunnan made 5 for 148 from 35 overs but were narrowly chased down in a final partnership stand between Belmore pair McEwan Dawson and James McCreery.

Ben Crackett was statistically best afield on a day where no one person truly dominated, as there were no milestones with the bat or terrorising spells with the ball.

He was consistent in both facets with a knock of 26 following up his 3 for 27 in the first innings.

Josh Davis was the day’s top scorer with 45, but unfortunately for his side the Bunnan opener lacked support with three scores under 5.

The victory sees the Bulls nipping away at the heels of Belltrees, who sit just two points above them as the competition enters its Christmas break.

Bushrangers became Merriwa’s latest victim with a 2 wicket loss, headlined by another solid half century from Greg Sheehan.

Murrurundi’s impressive total of 262, which included a 50 from Dave Smith and respective scores of 80 and 60 from Ben and Peter Crowe, was ultimately not enough to keep out a powerful Belltrees batting lineup.

Only one batter failed to make double figures in the chase, and Brad McCosker ended up causing the most damage with an unbeaten 76.

In the Muswellbrook derby, Silver once again came out on top following an impressive performance from Joel Barner, who helped his side to a 33 run win.