When play got underway at No. 1 Oval on Saturday afternoon, Bective East knew they were in for a tough day.
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The third-ranked side faced a determined Old Boys outfit, who they knew were vying to keep their finals hopes alive and well.
And the pitch made fending off Old Boys' well-rounded bowling attack no easier.
Having begun the day at 2-68, Bective were well-positioned in their attempt to overhaul the target of 114 and set up a scintillating second day of play.
But Rhyce Kliendienst (4-53) and Lawson Shepherd (3-28) quickly put an end to any idea of an easy day in the office.
From 2-68, Bective slumped to 7-90. It was only a partnership between captain Jye Paterson (51) and youngster Preston Boyd (9 from 54 balls) that stopped the wheels from falling off entirely.
"Young Preston only got 9, but he was out there for 50-odd rocks," Paterson said.
"He and I built a partnership that helped get us over the line, he batted really well."
The half-century was a timely return to form for Paterson, who has shone with the ball but struggled with his batting this season.
It "felt pretty good", he said, to get some time out in the middle.
And though it was the definition of a captain's knock to see his team through a difficult period, Paterson said the burden of leadership did not influence his innings.
"You just want to do well for the team and for the club," he said.
"Anyone would have tried to do the same thing in my situation. It was just circumstances, and I probably got a bit lucky with a few chances out there. You've just got to take your chances and go from there."
The captain was the second-to-last man out, and pace bowler Forbes Boydell fell 12 runs later to bring Bective's innings to a close for 163.
Given how slowly they had batted to counteract a tricky pitch, both teams agreed that there was not enough time to begin a second innings and Bective took a hard-earned win.
It leaves them in a good position on the ladder with one round left before finals begin, but Paterson knows that their upcoming clash against North Tamworth could still prove definitive.
"They've got a pretty handy side and they'll want to go out with a win," he said.
"We'll go out there and play the brand of cricket that we've been playing the last few games. It's gotten us going and we'll take some confidence in from the last game."
