By David Nagel
TOORADIN has been knocking on the finals door in Premier Division all season and looks set to finally ascend into a top four position this Saturday when it travels to seventh-placed Pakenham Upper-Toomuc.
Make no bones about it; the talented Seagulls are a genuine premiership threat this season. Victories over Pakenham and Upper Beaconsfield prove their competitiveness while losses to Kooweerup and Cardinia were highlighted by the run-out of gun batsman Tom Hussey when he looked set to impose his will on the premiership fancies.
The Yabbies on the other hand have not won a game since beating Officer in round one, but have made serious challenges on several occasions. Leading all-rounder Chris Smith has been magnificent this season but even a century against Beaconsfield in round eight wasn’t enough to see the Yabbies over the line.
Tooradin have Callum O’Hare to match Smith’s output this Saturday and then seem to have the edge in all other areas.
Hussey, O’Hare and Brad Sauer have all chalked up tons this season while skipper Aaron Avery, despite a quiet start to the season, looms large as a major player in the coming weeks. Steve Hamill leads the bowling aggregate for the Seagulls and a now fit Lukas Hoogenboom will be looking to build his wicket tally the way he bowls … fast.
The Yabbies are dangerous but inconsistent; skipper Darren Warne could make things interesting if he can build a sizeable partnership with Smith but it still won’t be enough. The Seagulls will swoop once again.
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TOP of the table Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll play host to third place Merinda Park this Saturday in a match that provides the Marygoons with their first major challenge of the season.
Scheduled early season contests against Merinda Park and Devon Meadows were both washed-out and with these three sides looking like fighting out the premiership race it leaves the home side an unproven commodity.
Brendan Fairlam and Jess Mathers have taken 27 wickets between them this season and will be keen to test the Marygoons batting line-up in the early overs. Glen Ward has led the way with the bat for the Panthers this season, his gritty century against Devon Meadows a season highlight while Chris Smith has been a consistent ally.
The Panthers come into this one in hot form and will give the Marygoons their first taste of defeat for the season.
DEVON Meadows tasted defeat for the first time this season in their previous round clash with Merinda Park and will have to be right on their toes to avoid a repeat performance when they host Emerald this Saturday.
The visiting fifth-placed Bombers are a dangerous opponent on their day with veteran Clinton Marsh still capable of bagging wickets in quick succession.
Devon Meadows still hold second place but were never in the hunt against Merinda Park, the absence of Peter Zauner proving a burden too big to carry. Bill Loudon was the standout performer in an otherwise lacklustre display. The Panthers have built up too much respect over the last two seasons to right them off after one bad performance and should bounce back into the winners’ list in this one.
LYNDHURST Vikings play host to SFX Old Collegians in a game they must win to keep its faint finals hopes alive.
Already two games behind the fourth placed X-Men the Vikings will be reliant on the all-round abilities of David Greensmith to keep it in the contest.
Trevor McGeachin, Mark Henry and Heath Straughair will also need to stand up for the home side but the key rests in keeping X-Men all-rounder Aaron Warn under control.
The Vikings will do this and keep their season alive.
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TOP team Clyde play host to fourth-placed Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll this week and on recent form it’s hard to see the Cougars being rolled.
Clyde was in trouble against Cranbourne Meadows last round but have players who stand up in a crisis. Noel O’Brien and Kane Avard led the way on that occasion while Adrian Buller and Dean Williams ran rampant with the ball.
The Cougars will put another downpayment on promotion to the District ranks with a comfortable win.
FIFTH-placed Tooradin have a chance to draw level with second-placed Lang Lang when they plays host to the Swamp Tigers this Saturday.
Justin Hinkley and Dene North have been solid with the bat for the Seagulls but the real challenge lies with the ball this week.
Lang Lang has three batsmen inside the top 10 run-getters this season, so Sam Clarke and Richard Holland need to produce outstanding bowling efforts if the Seagulls are to get over the line.
The Seagulls to get home in a tight one.
CRANBOURNE MEADOWS have slipped to sixth on the ladder and three games outside the top four but when you look at the stats it’s hard to know how.
The Rebels have the top two run-scorers in the Division in Brent and Lee Murdoch and have two outstanding trundlers in Jason Poole and Adrian Savage.
That highlights depth as the main problem but it should have the weaponry to out-gun seventh-placed Cardinia when it travels there on Saturday.