Numurkah holds all the marbles after day one of its must-win Haisman Shield clash with Old Students

Numurkah missed out on finals by a single point as eventual premier Kyabram outrighted Karramomus in the 11th hour to vault over the Blues, so this time around, they aren’t leaving anything to chance.

Old Students, on the other hand, are in store for a big day with the ball.

Day one saw Vince Gagliardi’s charges win the toss and elect to bat at Numurkah Showgrounds, and for the first hour at least, everything seemed to be going swimmingly.

Openers Noah Muir and Sam O’Brien got off to a sturdy start, and even when the former departed off Matt Cline’s bowling for 20, the visitors were hardly sweating.

Fast-forward eight overs, though, and suddenly the Students were perspiring.

Chief run-scorer Felix Odell was dismissed for five runs and three balls later, O’Brien (25) followed suit to leave the travellers in the lurch after such a promising start.

Students were given a lifeline by young blade Oscar Lambourn, who eventually went on to raise the bat before finally taking leave on 51 off 127 balls, but only one of the side’s bottom seven batters ventured into double digits.

Numurkah was able to restrain Students for 144 all out, with Raguvaran Aravinthan and Kyren Dawson collecting three wickets apiece in a satisfying day out with the ball.

Batting-wise, the Blues were also able make hay while the sun shined.

Joseph Wills proved to be Numurkah’s sole casualty as the hosts rounded out day one on 1-32, as Aravinthan (15 not-out) and Dylan Grandell (11 not-out) are well poised at the crease.

Over at Katandra, the seventh-placed Eagles are in a good spot to beat Shepparton Youth Club United but will likely require an outright victory to leap over the Blues and into the final top six spot.

Will history repeat or can Numurkah bury its final day demons? All will be revealed at stumps on Saturday.