Last round of Maitland District Cricket for 2016

After leapfrogging Eastern Suburbs with a close win last weekend, Northern Suburbs are looking to continue their good form when they take on City United at Lorn Park.

Norths are in good shape to do so, with a full-strength side set to take to the field.

Skipper Michael Wilson said several regular first-grade players will have to go back to second grade for the match, which gives him some confidence as captain.

“[Having too many players] is a really good problem to have,” he said.

“We’ve got a really strong first-grade lineup.”

Wilson said a win on Saturday would be a good chance to close the gap to ladder leaders Kurri-Weston, who have the bye this week.

It would also give them some confidence going into the second half of the season next year.

“We want to keep winning and build on that momentum,” Wilson said.

In the first game of the new year Norths and Kurri-Weston will face off in a top-of-the-table clash at Lorn Park, after their first encounter was washed out with Norths in a promising position.

But they’ll have to overcome a determined City United outfit first, who are in desperate need of a win.

City have not won a match since round two back in mid-October, and skipper Matt Trappel said they’d love to go into Christmas on a victory.

“It’s a massive game for us,” Trappel said.

“We want to keep in touch with the top four, so we’ve got to turn up and get the win.”

City are coming off a bye, which Trappel said he hoped worked in their favour.

“We’ve had a good break now, hopefully we’re nice and refreshed.”

But they will be without middle-order batsman Anru Kriel and bowler Josh Adams. They have been replaced by Bumpy Crouch and Tim Burton, who each have first-grade experience.

Both captains said their sides will be focused on batting the full 50 overs as the round switches back to the one-day format.

Western Suburbs will be looking to bounce-back after a tough 10-run loss to Norths last week, when they take on Raymond Terrace at Coronation Oval.

In their 70^th anniversary match, Western Suburbs will be seeking their first win since round two of the competition on October 15.

Raymond Terrace are coming in to the match with good form, having won their last two matches which were both played on home turf.

Eastern Suburbs will also be out to redeem a loss last week when they come up against Thornton Park.

The loss against the undefeated Kurri-Weston bumped them from second-place into third.

Easts skipper Andrew Vickery said the bowlers gave away too many easy runs last week, which they’ll be looking to tighten up this weekend.

Vickery said the injection of opening bowler and number three batsman Matt Magann should help towards their goal.

But in what will be just their second home game in seven rounds of competition, Thornton will be looking to use the home-ground advantage to secure their first win of the season.

The competition will take a break over after this round, before it resumes on January 7.