By Jonty Ralphsmith
Coomoora is the team most likely to stop Dandenong West in DDCA Turf 3 and the Roos will get the opportunity to do that this weekend in a mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash at Greaves Reserve.
Coomoora is coming off a win against top-four team Lynbrook which affirms Andy O’Meara’s men as the next-best in the competition behind the undefeated Dandy West.
Known for their free flowing run-scoring, it was the Roos’ bowlers who set it up, bowling Lynbrook out for 109 which their top-order cantered to.
Dandy West, meanwhile, is also coming off a comfortable win, against Hampton Park.
Dandy West has been challenged most weeks but absorbed the pressure and been more consistent..
It was, however, the Roos which gave the ladder-leaders their biggest scare in round one, with a 141-run partnership at a quick rate accelerating a stuttering innings to a score of 213, which Dandy West looked little chance of reaching until Nuwan Kulasekera got to the crease.
“I think we can definitely be better with the ball, we probably went too similar for too long last time so we can probably give a bit more variety,” skipper Anthony Brannan said, referencing the reliance on spinners when the teams last played.
“With the bat it’s a different ball game when you’re chasing 213.”
Something that has pleased Brannan has been the decreasing reliance on Kulasekera, with opener Dylan Diacono and middle-order bats Nathan Power and Bailey Howarth all contributing in recent weeks.
Nick Suppree’s availability for Coomoora will be an interesting watch, given the century-maker when the two teams first squared off has been missing in the last two rounds, and didn’t play Coomoora’s t20s.
Regardless, the match shapes as a finals-like contest.
“I’m expecting a really good game,” Brannan said.
“It’s a really good challenge. I think they’ll be top two with us, they’re probably the best batting team in the comp, so respecting that we might face a big score potentially, so we’ll have to try and minimise their effectiveness there.
“They’re going to prove a really difficult task for us to combat but I’m looking forward to it.”
Silverton’s season will essentially go on the line against Springvale.
A loss for Silverton will see it fall two games outside the top four with five more games to go including difficult clashes with Coomoora and Dandenong West still left.
Springvale, meanwhile, has won its last two and will be looking to build on the momentum it has established and keep the pressure on the top four.
Lynbrook will be favourites to bounce back against the Redbacks in the weekend’s other game, as will Fountain Gate against bottom-placed Berwick Springs.
