Having begun the year in good form, the Stags - who won the 2020/21 Third Grade premiership - struggled to get on the park as round after round was washed out.

This, combined with some poorly-timed byes, means the Stags have only played three times in 2021/22. But because all three games have resulted in wins, they now sit just below the Knight Riders om the Second Grade table despite playing fewer matches than any other team in the division.

And though they faced off against the youngest side in the competition yesterday, St Joseph's have proven to be a spirited outfit this season and were far from easy-beats - especially on a Seiffert Oval wicket which has proven in recent weeks to be exceptionally difficult for batters.

"After the scores last week [in the Goulburn MG T20 Cup], we knew it was going to be a hard track to bat on," Stags captain, Corey Withers, said.

"It was definitely the same again this week, there was not much in it for the batsmen ... It was up and down, balls died, very hard to bat on. I was glad that we lost the toss and they decided to bat first."

As the team's name suggests, St Joseph's is a side made up of primarily junior players with a handful of senior members to form the leadership group.

Yesterday's game was their first 40-over match on a non-synthetic wicket for the season, which proved to be too great a challenge to overcome against a team which has been near top spot on the ladder all year.

Extras were the highest scorer of the first innings, with 15, while none of the St Joseph's batters made it into double figures.

Andrew Dudley was the standout with the ball, taking 4-1 from two overs. Nicholas Turner and Isaac Hogan also bowled well with two wickets apiece, while Daniel Hunt took one.

St Joseph's total was 56 all out from 23 overs. But Withers said the Stags were careful not to underestimate their young opponents, particularly on a treacherous pitch.

Thanks to a quickfire 30 off 22 balls from Jacob Kara, who was aided by a gritty 10 not out from Withers, the Stags reached the total with four wickets remaining after nearly 14 overs.

While the win was enough to send the Stags to second place on the ladder, their opponents may get more nervous from next weekend when Withers expects to have a full-strength side.

"It's always hard to get into form when we've got stop-start seasons," he said.

"But we're still in a good bit of touch and enjoying our cricket, so hopefully we keep rolling forward. We were a bit undercooked this game, but we're back to our full-strength team now."

With a solid batting order and well-rounded bowling lineup, the primary focus going forward for the Stags will be their fielding, which has nearly cost them victories this year.

"We need to hold on to our catches, that's a big downfall in our game," Withers said.

"The fielding gets away from us and last week in the T20s we nearly lost. We put 180 on the board and Marulan nearly chased it down, and that was because of dropped catches."

Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up here.