GERRINGONG has the chance to take their place in the Shoalhaven District Football Association's first grade grand final for only the second time in their history if they defeat Culburra in this weekend’s preliminary final.
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Alternatively, Culburra will aim to appear in their fourth decider in a row and also extend their record of 10 premierships.
The answer to who will play Shoalhaven United in this year’s grand final will be known by 5pm Saturday.
The sides will be coming into the match with differing degrees of confidence. Gerringong led Shoalhaven United at half-time in the major semi-final but fell away in the second half to go down 2-1.
Gerringong coach Craig Farquhar will be emphasising to his charges that prior to this loss, they had not been beaten in their previous 11 games.
There is no reason they can’t return to the form that had seen them virtually unbeatable.
Culburra had a tough game against Illaroo that was even all the way and it took penalties to separate the sides.
Culburra suffered a blow when Corey Ryan went off injured early in the game and when both Steve Grey and Dale Blundell were replaced late in the game, it looked like an upset was on the cards.
However, Culburra steadied and made it through to penalties and subsequently won the match.
The sides have met on three previous occasions this year, with results shared evenly.
The first round was a 2-all draw while Culburra won the second round 3-1.
The third encounter was a 7-nil win to Gerringong however Culburra were under strength for this match.
The Culburra side should be similar to last week, depending on the injury to Corey Ryan.
Scott Merrivale will once again be in goals despite appearing injured himself.
The backline will include Jayden Witt, Lindsay Higgins, Keith Merrivale.
They will have the task of marking the Gerringong strike force of Jim Neimier and Brad Boardman.
The midfield battle will be of great interest with Culburra’s likely to include Blair Sutherland, Mitchell Blundell, Keiran Witt and Dale Blundell.
They will be up against a Gerringong midfield that will include Andrew Lockard, Gary Vian, Alex Bayer and Gary Neimier.
If Corey Ryan does not play, Culburra may return Steve Grey to the striking position, to partner Jack Miller up front.
They will need to get past the Gerringong defence of Jason Lockard, Rob Franks, Ben Dent and Dan Hamilton, while Joel Lockard will be in goals.
These sides met each other in the 2012 grand final and while that is only three years ago, both sides have changed significantly.
Culburra have six remaining players from their starting line-up whereas Gerringong only have four.
At the start of the year, most critics believed these two sides would play each other in the grand final, however one will obviously now miss out.
Gerringong’s recent form indicates they should move through to the grand final.
