2011 season on the line - Roos, Brumbies try to keep hopes alive

Such was their dominance last week it is hard to see anyone being able to challenge the Tiger juggernaut.

Shoalhaven United also remained undefeated with a strong 5-2 win over Illaroo, while Manyana kept their position in the top four with a 2-1 win over Callala.

Sussex kept their faint finals hopes alive with a win over Huskisson, and Culburra had their first win of the year over Milton.

The match of the round this week is between Illaroo and Callala, who are both desperate for maximum points to keep in touch with Manyana in fourth spot.

This is really the only team they can catch as Bomaderry, United and Heads are all but guaranteed a top four finish.

Illaroo suffered a heavy loss to United last week although they can consider themselves a bit unlucky with regard to the first two goals against them as they had competed well up until thattime.

Ben Green and Kane Rowe are dangerous in attack, while Dan Leedham, Wes Gedling and Evan Leedham are all strong in the middle of the park.

Illaroo coach Jim Ford would be disappointed with last week’s result considering he thought his side would have United’s measure.

Ford will know that this week is his side’s last throw of the dice.

Callala has struggled with unavailability in recent weeks which sees them sit several points below what they should have had if everyone was on deck.

Unfortunately most sides go through this at some stage of the year but it is how these losses are covered as to how successful you will be.

Dale Blundell is the Brumbies’ go to man and for him to be sitting in third position in the goal scoring records is a fantastic effort for someone in a team in seventh position.

Joel Van Rossum, Peter Dayus, Blake Aitken, Aaron Mason and Matt Lewis will all also need to be at their best against the strong Illaroo side.

Illaroo won the first round 5-2 and while this match will be closer, Illaroo should still take the win.

Gerringong will host Sussex in what should also be a good match.

Gerringong caused a huge upset with a win over Callala last start and they will want this form to continue for the rest of the year.

They have in fact picked up two wins and a draw in their last four games.

Gerringong coach Bob Bennett will want big performances from Sam Little, David Norrie, Rob Franks, Matt Seymour, David Sandia and Ben Robinson.

At full strength Gerringong has shown they are competitive with most sides especially, at home where most of their remaining games are scheduled.

Sussex is currently in a rich vein of form having had draws with both Shoalhaven Heads and Bomaderry.

They also beat Huskisson last week which keeps them in touch with fourth position.

While they had a bad start to the season they are in a position to challenge for a finals spot if their current form continues.

Rohan Daley is scoring regularly and Brett Fernie, Matt Murray, Jackson Daley, Troy Anderson, Grant Morris and Marcus Daley have also been good.

Sussex won the first round 6-2 and when current form is considered they should be able to gain maximum points this week also.

Huskisson will take on competition favourites Bomaderry.

Huskisson has not had a win since round 11 and they will need to be at their very best to compete with the strong Bomaderry outfit.

Huskisson started the year well but have struggled for depth in recent weeks which has seen results not so favourable.

Huskisson coach Sam Tooley will want his side to keep competing and will look to Josh Fuz, Jake Malligan, Sean Lymbery, Joe Spencer and Sam Boardman for good performances.

Bomaderry showed they are the best side in the competition and daylight is second based on last week’s performance.

They are dangerous all over the park and when everything clicks they are virtually unstoppable.

They have the best attack and best defence in the competition.

At full strength it is difficult to see anyone being able to challenge them.

Dave Hampton is challenging Jack Miller for the leading goal scorer position, while Daniel Frew also knows the way to goal.

They can also attack from the back with Brendan Fordham, Dale Russell and Cameron Nelson all dangerous coming forward.

Bomaderry won the first round 3-nil, however with the mood they are currently in, a higher score is anticipated.

Culburra host equal competition leaders Shoalhaven United.

Culburra had their first win of the year over Milton last week.

The Cougars had been building up to this over the last few weeks after drawing with Illaroo and a close loss to Heads.

This form indicates that they can be competitive with all teams.

The likes of Clyde Currie, Jason Gauci, Jerome Wellington, Keiran Witt, Rod Marsh, Rob Mackay and Jason Cummings are all quality players and coach Luke Pickering will be looking for good performances from them.

Shoalhaven United are the first side guaranteed of a finals position, however coach Trevor Skingle will want his side to push for that all important position in the top two.

United has gone about their season with a minimum of fuss and have probably surprised not only their opposition but also Skingle himself.

Skingle’s coaching methods could be viewed as unusual considering he walked out on the side for a short time earlier in the season and also went through a period of publicly questioning their efforts.

Despite this the team has gone from strength to strength and they obviously thrive on this somewhat different approach.

United won the first round 2-nil and if they want to stay in the top two they should be able to do enough to take maximum points.

The final match in this round will be between Shoalhaven Heads and Milton.

Heads were unable to stop a rampaging Bomaderry side last week but were able to do enough against Manyana to take the points in their deferred match.

They are still only two points from the top spot and need to keep winning so they are in a position to go past both Bomaderry and United should they falter.

Heads coach Bob Phillips will want his side to forget the result against Bomaderry and move forward.

Milton has struggled in recent weeks and coach Justin Stanton will want this form to turn around to enable them to at least compete with a wounded Heads side.

He will look to David Sarnacki, Kevin Castle, Rhys Wilson, Peter Whitmore and Nathan Fascinelli to be at their best.

Heads won the first round 6-nil and a similar result is expected this time.