Drysdale on brink in desperate last day

QUEENSCLIFF will this weekend aim to pull off a shock win over Drysdale that could bump the Hawks out of finals at the 11th hour.

Sitting fourth, Drysdale is six points ahead of fifthplaced Barwon Heads, and could miss the finals on percentage should the Coutas successfully reach their 154run target and Barwon Heads record a big win over Inverleigh.

Going in to day two at 1-16, Queenscliff captain-coach Toby Smith said his side was confident it could pull off an upset, and potentially change the make up of the finals in the process.

“I’d like to think we can chase that score down, so we’ve got a fairly reasonable sort of a batting attack that just hasn’t performed, me included in that, this year,” Smith said.

“It’d be a shame to see Drysdale get knocked out . . . but all the same we want to beat them, too, we want to finish the season on a high for us.”

Batting on a quick outfield, Smith believes his side has a significant chance of claiming its first win since Round 3, requiring 138 more runs to win.

“Going into the game, 250 for me is par over there . . . (so) to restrict them to under 200 was fantastic,” he said.

“Drysdale’s so quick you don’t actually have to attack the ball hard, you can actually play some really nice cricket shots and get boundaries (and) you don’t have to go aerial there.”

The Coutas will also be hoping next man in Michael Farrell can continue his good form with the bat after knocks of 59 and 131 in the past two rounds, while Smith pointed to Tom Johnston as the batsman who could hold the key to the clash.

“It’s probably Tom Johnson, he’s in now and it’s probably him and the lesser lights, because all you need with a score like that is those lesser-lights to get a few runs and you’ll win the game,” Smith said.