It is the duck-shooting opening weekend in the South so that means midweek fixtures, plenty of travelling, poor after-match turnouts and potentially average work attendance the following day.
Two games were played last night — Owaka hosting West Taieri, and Clinton hosting Clutha Valley.
There is a game tonight with the high-flying Toko heading to Lawrence to take on a home side that has not secured a win yet this season.
Toko took home the treats in an entertaining game against Clutha last weekend and will be looking for a bonus-point victory here to stay in the top four.
Lawrence was beaten by Clutha Valley but was ahead at halftime. It has put in some dedicated performances this season but has failed to get the win.
Clutha hosts Crescent in Balclutha tomorrow.
Even duck-shooting cannot get in the way of another Centennial Cup blockbuster, with both sides desperately needing the win — for different reasons.
Clutha will be reeling after its loss to Toko last weekend. It was plagued by inaccuracy, its set piece struggled and its discipline was below par.
This will no doubt have been rectified this week at training, so expect a determined Clutha side to take the field.
Crescent has had a terrible season to date by the club’s standards. However, it has had about 15 injuries, mostly serious, at different times of the season.
The rough luck did not stop there — five players were ruled out before the game with Heriot last weekend with a gastro bug.
Crescent is not using injuries and illness as excuses, but they do not help.
The Coal Miners are down in the bottom half of the table and another loss here could mean they miss out on finals footy this season.
Written by Francis Parker
