It was hard to tell who was happier about the Miners’ five-run win last Saturday, after the Power edged themselves into the preliminaries at the shattered Rangers’ expense, as the highest placed losing side.

Power captain Will Betheras said his side was relieved when Barnawartha got the win.

“We’ve been given a big second chance here, so we’ve got to take it with both hands,” Betheras said.

“Losing the way we did was a bit of a blow, but we’re going to get back on the horse and give it another go this weekend.

“We were able to take a few lessons out of that game that we’ve focused on at training.”

Eskdale’s Haydon Wilson wielded the wrecking ball last weekend, claiming 4/17 in his 13-over spell, including six maidens.

Betheras said the Power needed to be more patient against Wilson’s style of bowling.

“Haydon is the kind of player who is able to bowl a good line all day, you can’t just throw your bat at that sort of bowling,” Betheras said.

“We need to look at working the singles, rotating the strike a bit more, that’ll help us out a lot against Kiewa.”

Kiewa were convincing with the bat, with centuries to Jason Bartel and Sean Taylor the cornerstone of their 285-run total.

Howlong gave them a fair run for their money, reaching 232 in reply, with Kiewa captain Shane Streeter noting that his side would be better off for the fielding practice.

“They were pretty impressive, Howlong, we’ll certainly be better off for spending some time in the field,” Streeter said.

“We’ve played a lot of one-day games and had a few washouts, so to have a bit of a slog in the field will be good for us in the long run.”

Despite claiming the minor premiership in convincing fashion, Streeter said all the remaining sides were in the running for the premiership.

“There’s not much between the top four at the moment, all four sides have played some great cricket this year,” he said.

“I know the Power had a tough time of it early before finding some really strong form in the later stages of the season, so they’ll be tough to beat.

“We do have an advantage playing at home, it’s an absolute ripper of a wicket, so we’re looking forward to getting a few runs on the board.”

Barnawartha/Chiltern play Eskdale in the other preliminary final, with the Miners coming off a nail-biting five-run win over Baranduda.

Playing coach Cam McCormack said the Miners would learn from finals pressure.

“For a few of our younger players that was their first taste of finals, and you can’t get much more pressure than what they were under on that second day,” McCormack said.

“That’ll really benefit them this weekend.

“Eskdale are really coming into form at the moment, so to have that win on the board is a huge confidence boost.”

Another help is the form of captain Murray Price, who starred with bat and ball to help guide the Miners home.

“Murray’s really grown into the captaincy, you could tell early on he was struggling a little bit, but he’s leading from the front at the moment,” McCormack said.

“He’ll help some of those younger players through.

“Ultimately it’ll come down to whichever side is able to play for 140 overs without letting anything slip.”

Big Cam McCormack was a bit sore after a marathon bowling effort that saw the Miners narrowly edge Baranduda out of the finals.

But the playing coach is ready to go again against Eskdale, who would have sent Mount Beauty packing were it not for McCormack’s final over heroics.

Caleb Boxhall and Andrew Dishot bowled impressive and lengthy spells as well last weekend, with the Miners boasting some impressive bowling figures.

The 200 runs they put on the board last weekend was barely enough though, and considering Eskdale are potent with the bat, they will need to put a fair few more on the board to take the pressure off the likes of Dishot, Boxhall and captain Murray Price.

They were lucky to make it through to the preliminary finals, so expect Mount Beauty to switch on and make the most of their second chance.

There’s some quality in their side, with players the ilk of Ashan Ranaweera and Greg McLennan able to win a game off their own arm and bat.

But Kiewa are no knockabout side and are capable of putting together a massive total, as they demonstrated against Howlong last week.

Jason Bartel looks to be in hot form and plenty of his Kiewa team-mates have begun to follow suit.

It’s hard to go past them on their home turf but writing off the Power now would be a foolish call.