Cement facing a hard task

GEELONG Cement’s hopes of playing finals took a hit on Saturday when it lost by 21 shots at Highton in Division One pennant.

Trailing Torquay by three points going into the round, it is now 15 points adrift of the four after Torquay’s 22-shot win over Belmont.

With Torquay having to play Drysdale and Ocean Grove in the final two weeks, Cement had the chance to stay right in the mix.

Cement faces Ocean Grove (third) next week followed by a relatively easy game against Bell Post Hill but will need to lift its game to play finals.

Ocean Grove, meanwhile, clings to an outside chance of a double chance, its upset win over Drysdale lifting it within 16 points of second placed Drysdale, which in turn allowed City of Geelong to skip 11 points clear on top.

The Grove meets Cement and Torquay in the final two rounds, while Drysdale meets Torquay and City of Geelong.

It shapes as a crackerjack run to the finals.

Drysdale’s form for the bulk of the season has been strong, having been top or second most of the way, so it more than capable of recapturing its best.

Torquay won this round by 22 shots over Belmont but will need to finish strongly will at least one win from its final two games to play finals.

Torquay spokesman Geoff Grigg said they started slowly against Belmont, which is still close to the bottom of the ladder.

Grigg said they will need to get everyone working together more to boost their finals chances.

City of Geelong won comfortably over St Leonards at home and they clearly look the team to beat unless Drysdale can turn its form around to what it produced early in the season.

Meanwhile, Leopold celebrated its first win since Round 9 with an 11-shot win over Bell Post Hill. Lindsay Barker’s 10shot win over Brian Bottrell proved the difference.