THE battle between first and second will take place at Mirboo North Turf with the hosts five points ahead of the visiting Yallourn North, however a loss could disrupt their aim to consolidate top spot.
Tigers captain Shane Peters will be confident his batting lineup of Rob Phoenix, Adam Mates, Ben Williams and Jesse Giardina will continue to produce the goods, after posting team scores of 200-plus in all three rounds so far.
Yallourn North has a chance to steal pole position with an undefeated start to the season including a crushing win over Latrobe last round.
Aidan Vesty and Pat Spiteri have been in stellar form, however Glenn Sheekey is under pressure at the top of the order with just five runs in three innings.
TRAFALGAR occupies fifth place, ahead of this weekend’s opponent Moe by just 0.03 points.
A loss here would see the 2014/15 premiers slide into last place if Jeeralang-Boolarra manages to defeat a struggling Latrobe.
Captain Rhys Holdsworth is the man for the occasion and is primed to help his team bounce back with a big score, while James Blaser can be destructive if he spends any length of time at the crease.
Jackson Noonan and Todd Mann will be hoping to get among the wickets for the home side.
Moe is undergoing a generational transition, masterminded by run-machine Andrew Philip who remains the danger man.
Trafalgar needs to get him early or risk being batted out of the game.
Young gun Joel Mitchell has looked right at home so far, and there have been encouraging performances from Nathan Lee, Kane O’Connell and Robert Blunt.
AFTER a come-from-behind win against Morwell in round one, Latrobe endured a humiliating defeat to Yallourn North last week.
The Sharks need to bounce back with a big win on Saturday or will be under extreme pressure.
The loss of Kaushik Aphale has hit hard with top order bats Matthew Brewer, Anthony Bloomfield and Daniel Siddle in patchy form early, and all three will be keen to cash in against the Panthers.
Chris Johnson, Brendan Evans, Tyron Gamage and Jamie Brierley make for a difficult attack to face and Jeeralang-Boolarra will look to Craig Blackberry, Stan Urbanic and Dermott Leys to get ensure there is a defendable total on the board.
The Panthers have a good chance to snatch some points from the Sharks if they can put them under the pump early.
