By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE Berwick Miners returned to the Gridiron Victoria winners’ circle on Sunday and are now just one victory shy of a top four spot with four games remaining.
The Endeavour Hills-based side entered Sunday’s game off the back of a 22-0 shutout loss in week nine against the Western Crusaders.
But the Miners have slowly been able to assemble something resembling their best side over recent times and it showed on the weekend with a gritty 21-13 win at home over Division 1 top three team, the Geelong Buccaneers.
The win is sure to be a huge confidence-booster for Mel Martin’s men, but they’ll need it. This Saturday they’ll host the might of the top-placed Monash Warriors on their Rawling Field home deck at Sydney Pargeter Reserve in Endeavour Hills.
The last time the two sides squared off was in week four of the season, with the Warriors storming away with a huge 64-8 win at Ranger Field in Croydon.
The Miners were already in the middle of somewhat of an injury crisis at the time and had to face the daunting prospect of taking on the Warriors without starting quarterback Sam Walker.
That forced Berwick’s star wide receiver Brad Ferguson into the quarterback role in the weeks following – a situation that was akin to robbing Peter to pay Paul.
The Warriors have won the championship the past three years running, and in six of the past seven seasons. With a current 7-1 win-loss record, another Vic Bowl win could well be on the cards this year.
The Miners will come out with nothing to lose this weekend, with the game starting at 1.30pm.
