Coming out of the Christmas break sitting on the bottom of the ladder with just one victory from its first six starts, East pulled off the upset of the season a fortnight ago, travelling to Tallygaroopna and toppling the reigning grand finalists in a Friday night epic.
A performance that galvanised the group and instilled the belief that they can compete with the competition’s best, they kept the momentum rolling with a gritty 14-96 to 4-87 win over Euroa last week to jump into sixth position.
They will be without the experienced Tim Gribble however, who will be forced to miss this clash due to COVID-19.
East Shepparton coach Brent Reiner said his team was full of confidence heading into this one.
“We are pretty confident we have played a lot better after the break as a team and our team is very settled at the moment despite Tim Gribble being out with COVID,” Reiner said.
“We will give it a red-hot crack and being only 10 points out of the four, if we are able to beat Ky and the other result goes our way, we could be in the four this week, so we are quietly confident.”
East Shepparton’s charge towards the finals doesn’t get any easier this week with a fired-up Kyabram side on the agenda.
The Bombers were stunned last weekend, failing to get anything going on their home green, falling victim to a 15-112 to 3-85 upset at the hands of Tatura-Hill Top.
What we have learnt about Kyabram this year however is that the side is as professional a unit as they come, with Glenn Fields and the Bombers’ brains trust certain to have the squad ready for a fierce battle.
Tatura-Hill Top will be looking to solidify its position in the top four with a victory against fellow finals contender Shepparton Park.
Occupying fourth and fifth positions on the ladder with just one win separating them, these two sides are as evenly matched as they come in the Allan Matheson Shield and enter this clash in relatively strong form.
After falling agonisingly short against Shepparton Golf a fortnight ago, the Bulldogs were brilliant at Kyabram last week, running away with a dominant win.
Meanwhile, the Parkers began the new year with a thumping 16-110 to 2-70 win over Stanhope before also putting in a strong performance against the Golf juggernaut last week.
The final clash of round 10 pits cellar-dwellers Stanhope and Euroa against each other in an intriguing battle at the Stanhope Bowls Club.
Yet to register a win in the new year, this serves as a fantastic opportunity for these two sides as they hope to end the season on a positive note.
Stanhope in particular will be looking for an improved performance, after being smoked by a fired-up Tallygaroopna 18-135 to 0-65 in what was a largely uncompetitive performance.
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