ONE game, one round, one major goal.
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The fortunes of two Western District Bowls Division finals contenders – Timboon Gold and City Memorial Gold – remain up in the air entering Saturday’s final round.
The two sides go head-to-head in a must-win clash with fourth-placed Timboon Gold holding a slender six-shot buffer.
Timboon Gold skipper Max Saunders said his small club was confident it could maintain its spot and book a semi-final berth.
“We have been practicing and we’ll practice again tonight and have a little barbecue and talk about the game,” he said 24 hours out from the match.
“We’ll probably have our strongest side in, so that will be a plus.
“We have been in the four nearly all year, so it would be disappointing if we go down in our last home game.”
Saunders said the small advantage Timboon Gold had on City Memorial Gold could be wiped away quickly.
But he believes his teammates will take a positive mindset into the game.
“To be comfortable we have to win three rinks to stay in the four,” he said.
Saunders said Timboon Gold enjoyed its clashes with City Memorial Gold but suggested friendly pre-game banter was a must.
Both clubs have carpet and sand-filled greens to play on.
“They are probably wondering which green we’ll play on on the day,” he said.
“It’s a bit of cat and mouse, a bit of fun.
“They’re all good fellas and there’s no animosity. We enjoy our sport.”
City Memorial Gold skipper Bruce Collie – himself a former Timboon player – believes the final-round match-up is the best result for the competition.
“It’s really good it comes down to this because whoever wins the game will go into the four, which is a good way to finish the season,” he said.
“We are not relying on anyone else (to help us get there).”
Collie said City Memorial Gold was finding form at the right time of the season.
“They have been in the four all year and we’ve been middle of the road,” he said.
“We’ve come with a late charge and hopefully we’ve got the momentum.”
Collie expects the match to be played in good spirits but be hard fought.
“We are quietly confident without being over-confident,” he said.
“We’re evenly matched and last time we played them we played on our greens and were lucky to get home.
“On their greens it might be a bit different.”
Warrnambool Gold, aiming for its fifth straight premiership, perennial contender City Memorial Red and new challenger Koroit Blue have all sewn up their finals spots.