The Hawks have been regulars at the business end, but an uncharacteristically slow start to the campaign has left them with work to do.

Third-placed Ovens Valley United awaits on Saturday, however, there’s only 11 points between them and Wangaratta Magpies down in seventh.

Hawks’ captain Jacob Schonafinger knows the importance of victory for his side, which currently sits fifth.

Ovens Valley won a final-over thriller between the two sides in round one.

“Considering they beat us last time, it’s pretty important for us to square the ledger for the season,” Schonafinger said.

“Us, them and Beechworth are on similar points, so it’s really important that we win these 50-50 games to give ourselves a chance to play finals.”

Related:

Rovers United-Bruck took plenty of momentum into the mid-season break with three victories on the trot.

“It was probably off the back of some of our younger bowlers, Paddy McNamara had a really hot spell and took a bag of wickets on a couple of occasions,” Schonafinger said.

The Hawks also took plenty from last weekend’s T20 matches, with one point per win going to the club’s overall tally for the season.

“Obviously with our situation, we had to it seriously because we wanted to make up some ground on the sides above us,” Schonafinger added.

“We tied our game on the Sunday, which meant we were half a game off making the final.”

Import Joe Thomas returns from the UK after missing the end of last year.