Swans get ready to slug it out

By Ben Hope
A DEFIANT Camberwell team refused to make it easy for Casey-South Melbourne and will return to bat with 7/232 this weekend at Casey Fields.
Swans coach Mark Ridgway predicts the Magpies will be looking for a few more runs before conceding.
“They can make the decision to concede up to 10 minute before play starts but I assume they will go ahead and bat as 232 isn’t the best score out there,” Ridgway said.
“My guess is they will want to bat on and get a few more and set us a run chase.”
“We need to knock them over for around the 250-260 mark and give ourselves 80 or so overs to chase them down.”
Without a chance for a top-eight position the Magpies were looking to bolster their pride with a win against the second-placed Swans. It took the Magpies 101 overs to get their 232 after a shaky start left them 1/13. The Swans’ momentum continued soon after when a ball from Brett Eddy left the visitors 2/19.
Sloppy fielding then left the Swans struggling to tackle the tail end of the Magpie line-up with half-centuries from Simon Hill (50) and Thomas Rickarby (54 not out).
“We dropped a couple of critical chances again on the weekend which doesn’t help us,” Ridgway said.
“If they were 9/232 we would have won the day clearly but we are either a couple of wickets short of where we should be or they’re 30 runs too many.”
The Swans will be looking for a win to keep them in the top four on the ladder and ensure they will play their finals games at home.
“A draw would make sure we finished in the top eight this season, but we want to play a home finals so we need the win,” Ridgway said.
“A top four spot for the finals means the opposition must win the game as a draw or means the home team goes through to the next round, it is a distinct advantage.”
The Swans are sitting in second place on the ladder with 45 points, two points behind leader St Kilda.