The Blues cruised to a six-wicket win in their semi-final clash at the Mooroopna Recreation Reserve, with the contest over inside the opening day of play.
Saturday's result sends Numurkah through to its third consecutive grand final appearance, while denying Mooroopna the chance to reach the decider after nine seasons.
Numurkah captain Liam Gledhill praised the effort from his troops after they suffered a disappointing loss in the first week of the finals against their upcoming grand final opponent, Nagambie.
“It was a really pleasing performance from the boys,” Gledhill said.
“It was nice to get some good cricket under our belt and get some confidence back after the loss last week.
“And it's a fantastic effort by everyone to get back to another grand final, we know it'll be a hard battle ahead, but we'll enjoy the week and we look forward to having another crack.”
Numurkah got off to a ripping start after Mooroopna elected to bat first.
Opening quick Tim Braybon (2-16) collected the first two scalps, while fellow opener Matt Cline (2-20) bowled six maidens from 13 overs, as Numurkah left the home side struggling at 2-9.
The Cats looked to have traversed the difficult period at the crease when they reached 50 runs for the loss of three wickets, however, a brilliant direct run-out from Will Arnel put the pressure back on Mooroopna.
No. 4 bat Shoaib Shaikh tried his hardest to salvage the innings and recorded a courageous 43-run knock, as captain Sam O'Brien (16) stuck with the talented batsman for a 26-run partnership.
But in stepped Gledhill (2-13) — who collected the important wickets of Shaikh and O'Brien —- and Mitch Grandell (2-9), with the pair pivotal in ending Mooroopna's innings for 99 runs off 48 overs.
Unfortunately for the Cats, their bottom-order was unable to hang around like it did in the qualifying final against the Northerners, with their final six wickets going quicker than toilet paper off supermarket shelves.
Mooroopna lost its last six wickets for a miserly 19 runs, which left Gledhill proud of his bowling brigade.
“I thought our bowling was terrific, we started really well, but finished off even better which was important,” he said.
“But it was great to see our fielding at a really high intensity, which it needs to be for finals cricket.
“Will Arnel's crucial run-out was pivotal and started our string of wickets.”
Numurkah made a tricky run chase look easy as it reached the Cats’ total with six wickets in hand.
Grandell continued his sublime summer and top-scored with 33 runs, while Shaun Downie chipped in with a valuable unbeaten 22.
THE GAME
Mooroopna 99 (Shoaib Shaikh 43, Brodie McDonald 18, Sam O'Brien 16, Mitch Grandell 2-9, Liam Gledhill 2-13, Tim Braybon 2-16) lt Numurkah 4-100 (Dylan Grandell 33, Shaun Downie 22, Liam Gledhill 18, Jake Wright 2-12, Henry Barrow 2-33)
STAR PERFORMER
Liam Gledhill (Numurkah): The experienced leader stood tall when his side needed it most and collected the wicket of the threatening Shoaib Shaikh (43), thanks to a great catch from Jahlan Lau. And then Gledhill removed his Mooroopna counterpart, which exposed the tail. He capped off 2-13 from seven overs with a steady 18 runs in the run chase.
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