YANCO and the L&D CC will be leaving nothing behind when they go head-to-head in this weekend’s A grade preliminary final.
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The sides will be playing for the last grand final position when they meet for their two-day match on Saturday and Sunday.
Narrandera have already progressed to the final after defeating Yanco in a down-to-the-wire game last weekend.
Both the L&D and Yanco have spent the week preparing for the match.
Stags senior player Dionisio Pantano predicted a tough encounter.
“I think it’s going to be very close,” he said.
“We’re ready to go and we know L&D will be too.
“They’ve really started to fire, so it could definitely go either way.”
The Stags trained on Thursday night where their final team was decided.
As per the rest of the season, Yanco have had a good mix of experience and youth.
The same goes for the L&D, who typically always hit their strides right as the two-day finals start each year.
Pantano said whoever batted first would need to get off to a good start.
“I think that’s going to be the key, but like we saw last weekend, anything can happen,” he said.
Yanco’s first day against Narrandera didn’t go as planned, but the match came down to a thrilling finish on Sunday, with the Carpheads only winning by one wicket.
“I think the boys will be able to take confidence from that,” Pantano said.
“They know they can match it with the top side in the competition, so hopefully that helps us this weekend.”
Stags captain David Tiffin will be relying on Matt Dedini, Nathan Tang and Hugh Collins at the top of the order to put on some decent runs.
“Those guys have been in pretty good nick, so if they can get us off to a good start, we’ll be positioned pretty well,” Pantano said.
“With the ball last weekend Rhys (Wilesmith) really got us back into the game, so hopefully if he can do well again the rest of us can chip in around him.”
The game will be played at Yanco Sportsground.
While it has been a wet week, Pantano was confident the wicket would make for a interesting game.
Draw
A grade: Yanco v L&D CC (Yanco Sportsground)
B grade: Phantoms v Yanco 35s (LHS No. 2)
C grade: Phantoms v Yanco (LHS No. 1)
