Two of Brimbank’s oldest and strongest sporting clubs are locked in a mad dash to keep their finals campaigns alive.
The Western Region Football League’s top five isn’t big enough for both St Albans and Sunshine; currently both are on the outside looking in.
The pair will square off this week in a blockbuster, with the loser set to have its September dreams shattered.
St Albans president Gus Jimenez says his players need no reminding just how big the stakes are.
After a bye last week, the Saints have had two weeks to hatch plans against their local rivals.
“That game will tell us if we are going to stay in the race or start planning for next year,” he said.
“That’s going to be a real big one for us now.We need to keep winning, right through now to the end of the year to get back our spot in the five.”
After losing a number of members of its 2014 squad, St Albans was an unknown quantity heading into this season.
Despite the change in personnel, the Saints showed they had not parted ways with any of their fighting qualities, recovering from a 0-2 start to the season to jump to fourth spot on the ladder in round nine.
Just when it looked like a top-two finish could be on the cards, a combination of injuries to key players and being on the wrong end of some tight finishes dropped the Saints to sixth.
That run of poor form included a 46-point loss to Altona, the Saints’ worst defeat of the year.
“The match against Altona, that was the first time, I think, we really let ourselves down,” Jimenez said.
“When we lost to Hoppers Crossing, it was by under a kick.
“And the Spotswood game, we didn’t play well but were still in the game right to the end,” he said.
“We have been thereabouts with all the losses, except for last week when Altona were the better side.”
St Albans expects to welcome back some of its key players for Saturday’s game, with Brad Allen said to be recovered from a short-term injury.
Sunshine, too, has bounced back from a slow start to its 2015 campaign. Having been pushed to the lower end of the ladder for most of the season, the Kangaroos proved earlier this month their finals credentials were up to scratch with a win against third-placed Werribee Districts.
St Albans and Sunshine last met in round five, with the Saints coming out on top by 64 points.
Saturday’s match will be played at Sunshine’s Kinder Smith Reserve, starting at 2pm.
