St Michaels failing to cover the Geoff Lawson Oval wicket has seen the Cats leapfrog their rivals to set up a clash with South Wagga for a place in the grand final next week.

But first captain Josh Thompson is looking to bowl out Kooringal Colts at Harris Park on Saturday.

Thompson led a bright start for the Cats, making 63 in a 92-run partnership with Ben Turner (37), before the side fell away badly.

They lost 10-89 to be bundled out for 181 and put themselves under pressure.

Thompson was far from impressed they couldn't capitalise.

"We touched base after the game and I was pretty disappointed with how the boys finished but at the end of the day we have 180 on the board and we have to defend it," Thompson said.

"It is going good into finals as the same sort of thing can happen in finals - you could have a really good start and the other team has the last laugh in the next two sessions.

"It is a good one to go into finals."

However after already picking up two wickets late on day one, Thompson was pleased to have started making inroads.

Dave Bolton (five not out) and Andrew Dutton (three not out) will resume after Bolton saw out 48 balls to ensure he made it to stumps.

It was a big positive for Thompson.

"Having them 2-15 is a good start," he said.

"Obviously the big wicket is Dave Bolton and if we can get him cheaply I think we will be well on our way to getting the win but there is probably four wickets we are worrying about.

"We have to keep them all under a start to win and need to bowl exceptionally well to get the win."

Thompson is not only wary of the two wickets at the crease but Nathanael Mooney, who comes in for the second half of the clash as well as Colts captain Keenan Hanigan.

The Colts need an outright win, and results to go their way, to make finals.

Wagga City can't be moved from second place.

However Thompson doesn't want to rest on knowing the clash won't affect their place after the Saints were docked 10 points.

"It is pretty disappointing for St Micks, I'm sure they didn't mean it, but it is a good outcome for us," he said.

"None the less it is a game that is set up for finals cricket and we have to try everything to get the win.

"We don't want to play the game as if we don't care if it is a win or a loss we have to play to win and get a good feel around the group."

Wagga City are unchanged after Aaron Maxwell and Mitch Cawley played in second grade last week to ensure they spent some time in the middle heading into finals.

READ MORE