The Hawks weren’t far short of the 160-run goal they set themselves at the start of the day, before they were eventually bowled out for 145 by an in-form Dederang last weekend.

While the bowlers don’t have a big total to play with, Kiewa captain Shane Streeter doesn’t feel there is any extra pressure on his side.

“They were pretty happy to keep us to 145, but the way the pitch was playing and the way the ground is out there, we thought 160 was a good score,” he said.

A potential match-saving partnership between Craig and Connor Davis, could prove the difference.

“We would have been in trouble without that one and what’s even more remarkable is that I don’t think Craig has played a first grade game in at least six or seven years,” Streeter said.

“He only came up because we were fairly short and ended up saving the day for us.

“We’ve fallen into a pattern with most of our games this year, where we’ve lost a couple of early wickets, our middle order has stood up and then we’ve lost another heap of wickets really quickly towards the end.

“Greggy (Cameron Gregg) did a really good job and Ben Greer kept things tight at the other end.

“We bowled five overs at the end and Jacob Barber got a few to move quite a long way off the pitch.

“We’re hoping he and a couple of the other boys can do that this week and if we can get a couple of early wickets fairly cheaply, we think we’re right in the hunt.”

He admitted Dederang’s skipper Andrew Creamer is the key wicket.

“They’ve got other blokes that can make runs, but they tend to do it with him and bat around him,” Streeter said.

In the remaining games, Eskdale still requires 50 runs with just two wickets in hand when it resumes at 8-68 against Barnawartha-Chiltern, Baranduda will be looking for outright points after bowling Howlong out for 60, Yackandandah (1-28) needs another 60 runs to defeat Bethanga (87), while Mount Beauty (4-65) has 33 to chase with six wickets in hand against Wodonga.