Considering this summer is his side's first in more than two decades, Millthorpe skipper Will Oldham happily admits their only goal in 2018-19 was to "hopefully make the finals", with little to no thought put into winning the Molong District Cricket Association's Oilplus Senior premiership.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Make no mistake, they'd love to hoist the trophy, but considering this summer was the first of the club's rebuild it doesn't take a genius to see that would've been aiming a touch too high, too soon.
Even so, the side has hit its straps recently and is now just one win away from ticking the first box in qualifying for the finals, a victory this weekend would wrap up second spot for the returning outfit.
"We didn't start the season all that well, I think we lost our first five games but we've been going along well lately and we've only lost one since then," Oldham said.
"It's been a really good season, great bunch of blokes just looking to have a run and it took a bit of time but we've started to hit our straps.
"A win this weekend would be great, it'd mean we finish second, but if you'd asked at the start of the season I'd have said we would've just been happy to have a chance at the finals.
"We've got that and if get there, who knows what could happen."
The stage has actually been set for an incredible final round this weekend, for Millthorpe and their opposition Molong Bowlers anyway.
Country has already wrapped up the minor title and Cudal is guaranteed a top three spot as well, while the Magpies will finish with the wooden spoon.
But Millthorpe and Molong Bowlers are deadlocked on 53 points and the winner of Saturday afternoon's juicy match-up will jump up to second, while the other will be resigned to missing the finals.
"It is a big game and Molong Bowlers are a pretty good side, so it should be good fun and a good game I think," Oldham said.
Millthorpe's skipper has been in irresistible form this summer too, he notched a ton earlier in the season and backed that up with another last weekend, scoring 105 as his side knocked off Cudal.
"I've been hitting them alright I guess, hopefully that keeps going this weekend," Oldham said.
Millthorpe hosts Molong Bowlers on Saturday while Magpies face the unbeaten minor premiers at Molong's Dr Ross Memorial Recreation Ground, Cudal has the bye.
The competition's representative side, led by Country's Trent Frazer, will also be in action this weekend, they head to Parkes to challenge the Western Zone heavyweights for the Grinsted Cup.
That clash starts at 10am at Parkes' Woodward Oval.
- MOLONG: Trent Frazer ©, Will Oldham, Nigel Brazier, Brett Wykes, James Milner, Andrew Heath, Lee Cornish, John Mulhall, Andrew Drady, Pat Joyce, Tim Milne, Jock Haynes (12th), Dylan Wilson (13th)
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
