RSL won by three wickets on a rain-affected Oxley Oval deck but despite the loss, Pirates captain Rod Morton was encouraged by what he saw out in the middle.

Pirates placed more value on their wickets in a match where runs were hard to come by.

The Port team managed 9-100 from its 33 overs.

Shane Williams was the best with the bat. He made 36.

Williams put together a 60-run partnership with Jamie Carroll (28) after RSL's Daniel Morrison had Ethan Durbridge caught with the score at 1.

But good scores were few and far between. Morton was the only other batsman to reach double figures, making 10 not out.

Morton said most batsmen fell chasing quick runs.

"The batting was improved after last week," he said.

He guessed the team to be about 40 runs short of a defendable total.

He praised Oxley Oval curator Craig Grant's work to allow play to go ahead.

"Keg did an excellent job to get us on the park," he said.

Matt Miller took the Pirates apart in overs either side of drinks to seal the game for RSL.

He scored 35 before Rob McColl ran him out.

"Those two (overs) got on top of us," Morton said.

Mark Jackson was the standout with the ball. His first five overs returned 3-12. His final figures were 3-32 from six overs.

Nick Bartlett and Simon Granfield also impressed Morton.

He (Granfield) was bowling quite tight and with good pace," Morton said.

After Miller, Nathan Lyon was Wauchope's next best with 13 not out. Opener Heath Larance scored 10. Morton was confident his top order had further improvement.

This season is Carroll's first opening the batting and Williams' first at three.

"Jamie Carroll's going quite well," Morton said.

"He'll probably stay there for the rest of the season."