COMING into the final round of the Sunraysia Saturday pennant bowls season one question remains – can Red Cliffs make the finals?
The Division 1 Tigers sit two points behind Workers in fourth place and host Ouyen on Saturday.
They have made every post a winner in the last three matches taking out Irymple, Merbein and Workers, and in the process sent a clear message to the rest of the field that they are on the charge and desperate to make finals.
Maurie Press has been one of the Tigers’ best performers for the season, winning nine games from 13 starts.
Other Red Cliffs players to stand up have been Mark Ford, Fred Giugno and Luke Savaidis-Milne. They will need to make every post a winner against Ouyen who have lost two out of their last three games.
Ouyen sit eight points ahead of this weekend’s opponents and a loss could see them plummet out of the four.
It will be game on with a finals berth at stake. Tigers at home might just have enough in the tank to cause a boil over.
Meanwhile, Workers host Irymple at Cureton Avenue as the Suns will be looking to collect the points and possibly snatch top spot and minor premiership.
They would need to collect all the points and pray that Merbein can inflict a bit of pain against Mildura.
Workers will be well aware that a loss could see them out of the four so they have everything to play for.
The Green and Gold defeated the Suns in round 5 at home, but had no answers in round 10 when they went down on all rinks by 44 shots.
The Suns will be up and about looking for the win, but Workers at home are a solid unit almost getting over Mildura last week.
In the final game of the division, Mildura are at home to Merbein and will be desperate to finish the home and away series with a solid win going into the finals.
The Hawks loomed larger than life midway through the season and looked to have the finals clearly in their sights.
After resuming from the break they have lost three on the trot and sit bottom of the table. They came close to running over the Magic in round 10 going down by a single shot.
President Jumbo will need to fire up his Hawkers if they are to finish the season on a positive note.
Mildura have been struggling with overall form and will need to rekindle the real “Magic” that they are renowned for when under the pump.
Magic need eight points to secure top spot and a home final.
Second division matches will make little difference to the final four with Coomealla on top and 16 points clear of Mildura.
These two sides face off today in what is potentially a dressed rehearsal for next week’s second semi-final.
Mildura are the only team to have beaten the Cannons this season and will be keen to make it three from three.
Should Irymple win 12-zip over Nangiloc at the Loc, and Mildura loses 12-zip to the Cannons, then the Suns could potentially leapfrog into second spot.
Nangiloc have been a solid unit this year with both solid back and front end players. At home this match will be one worth watching.
A win may give the edge to either side as they will front up to play each other in the elimination final to be played at Irymple next week.
The remaining game is between Ouyen and Workers at Blackburn Park. The Two Blues have been stiff in recent weeks against Coomealla and Mildura going down by just a few shots both times.
Workers upset Mildura last week and will be keen to finish off the season with a win.
Division 3 and 4 concluded their home-and-away series last week and will have a lay day today. There are some great matchups in Division 1 this week with every side looking for a win to ensure ladder positions or to jump into the finals.
Second division matches are a dress rehearsal for next week’s semis.
