HEAVYWEIGHTS IN SEMI STOUSH
Trojans and Wests fight for survival
CRICKET: Their young guns have safely got them this far.
Now Metropolitan-Easts will look to its older hands to get on with the job when they look to keep their TCI season alive this weekend.
Met-Easts and defending premiers Wests meet in this season’s Toowoomba A-grade cricket semi-final at Heritage Oval from 10.30 this morning for the right to play Northern Brothers Diggers in next weekend’s grand final.
Captain Peter Reimers makes a timely return to the Trojan’s line-up this weekend from work duties.
“I haven’t had the chance to play a lot of cricket this season and we’ve been missing a few players along the way,” Reimers said.
“Our young blokes like Mace Gaffney have stepped up and done a good job for us.
“But we’ve got everyone on deck this weekend so it’s nice to be at full strength at the business end of the season.”
Mets pack a welter of experience for the loser-leaves-town clash with Troy Gurski, Lyle Teske, Matt and Simon Dennis and Matt Elford all a part of their line-up.
But Reimers believed the match outcome could hinge of who best takes their chances.
“It’s always a good match-up when we come up against Wests,” Reimers said.
“They’ve got a great bowling unit led by Shaun McCarthy with blokes like Cam Brimblecombe in there as well.
“Their batting speaks for itself with players like Maysy (Brian May) and Chris Gillam leading a really solid line-up.
“We’ve got a good balance in our batting and bowling but if there’s one place we probably need to be on our game this weekend it’s our fielding.
“It’s let us down a few times this season.
“I find in these tight semi-finals whoever fields best can sometimes come out on top. It’s about holding your catches and taking your chances.
“The weekend forecast is okay so it should be a great game.”
Captain Brian May expects Wests to be near full strength for the showdown.
“They’re a good team Mets with experienced blokes who have played a lot of finals’ cricket,” Mays said.
“It’s going to be a very tough game and we’ll need to be at our best to beat them, that’s for sure.
“It comes down now to who can produce on the day.”