Longford enters a top-of-the-table clash with Hadspen aware that a first loss of their hot Premier League summer could now cost the unbeaten team a home semi-final.
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In what could be a cruel twist of fate, Longford's three draws courtesy of spotty rain could now hurt its minor premiership claims more so than Hadspen losing twice.
The Tigers, in fact, already have beaten their archrivals four times that includes T20 matches and even could win on Saturday and a semi-final, but lose the seventh meeting before they concede back-to-back titles to the Chieftains.
"This is crucial for us - if we drop the four points, their percentage is a fair bit better than ours," Longford captain Jackson Blair said.
"A win will give them the top spot and we'll be on the back foot trying to get a home final back, which is pretty big for us playing at Longford."
Chieftains captain-coach Liam Reynolds was feeling relaxed and not worrying too much after trailing their season nemesis since round 3.
"It's an ideal preparation coming into finals," he said.
"They've been the benchmark all year, they're a quality unit, we know we're up for a really good tussle and they do everything so well.
"If we do happen to play well on Saturday, able to secure a home final and take top spot, you never know
"It's a good spot to be on top spot with the weather because you don't know what is going to come into play."
The penultimate round for ACL and Beaconsfield is also a battle of best possible spots.
ACL shored up their top-four aspirations last week and could move up one position with victory over Perth.
"Third is on our agenda now - our first objective we ticked off to make finals, which is fantastic and now we're hunting for third," ACL captain John Kedey said.
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"We know we have very winnable games coming up in our next two weeks.
"But first things is first and that's defeating Perth - and Perth is on the improve."
Kedey felt the Bluebacks were lucky to secure the win last time against the Demons.
That is something Perth captain John Hayes has not let go to fire up his players.
"I think after going really close last time when they won by three runs it was kind of the one that got away from us," he said.
"We'll be looking at making up for that, but we also want to show we can win against finals teams."
Beaconsfield faces a tricky contest against Trevallyn to take a first step towards sealing a triumphant home final.
"We have two big games coming up now, with ACL and us both level on points," captain Sean Barry said.
"So we're battling it out for a home final and we do play each other in the last round.
"They did beat us last time albeit by a run, but we have run into a bit of form of late."
Trevallyn captain James Whiteley is confident his side that has dropped from third out of eight teams last season to fifth from six 12 months on can cause the upset.
Batters Charles Von Stieglitz and Caleb Lawson both return.
"It is quite ironic that this week we will field one of our strongest teams for the year," he said. "It's also one of our younger teams for the year."
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