Gallery | Mooroopna and Nagambie lock in home Goulburn Murray women’s cricket semifinals a round in advance

It was still but a mere flicker, however, and the Cats would return to the pitch to firmly shut the door in booking the top seeding.

With that, Jeff Vandermeer’s side has mirrored its achievement from its inaugural campaign a year ago, now one game away from a second consecutive unblemished home-and-away season.

The Cats’ bowling attack - all 11 members, in fact, with everyone rolling the arm over at one stage - was ruthless on a road trip to Katamatite on Sunday, leaving no Tiger in double figures with a total of only 56 needed for the win.

The batters hardly had to hit second gear in an extended 35-over clash, taking barely a third of that time to chase it down in a nine-wicket thumping.

With matters handled comfortably up north, though, Nagambie would travel to face a fellow contending local side in Shepparton Youth Club United at Princess Park.

The Lakers could hardly have looked more comfortable with the range of 35 overs as skipper Kait Carracher and Breanna Davison went on a free-swinging tear together.

The 62-run stand between Davison and Madison Albers featured a hailstorm of boundaries before import Sophie Ullah finally put it to rest, but the damage was by then well done.

The southern outfit comfortably saw its time out at 6-189, but the combine made an encouraging start of its own in the chase.

Ullah launched a handful of deep shots from the opening spot, though the end of her innings at a run-a-ball 27 slowed the run rate dramatically.

Led by Kelsey Abbott, Nagambie’s bowling attack tore right through the second half of the order to leave matters academic in what ultimately went down as a powerful 86-run win.

With the Cats and Lakers locked into their respective positions, the other two finals spots are well and truly in the balance.

Echuca’s forfeit victory over Kyabram allowed the reigning premier to move into third, six points clear of the deadlocked SYCU and Moama sides.

With the combine just barely clinging to fourth through its run rate, everything remains to play for when Lia Beecroft’s side tangles with the Redbacks in the regular season finale.

The final round kicks off much earlier than usual with Rochester, set to fall just short on run rate, taking on Nathalia in a rare Thursday night outing.

Mooroopna welcomes Moama to town early Saturday morning in a clash that means everything for the visiting side, hoping to put some pressure on the following morning’s affair at Princess Park by pulling off an enormous feat.

Another Sunday clash between Echuca and Nagambie serves as every chance of a finals preview, where a win for the green machine at Victoria Park would secure the same matchup a week later down south for the semi.