Darley may have already sealed a finals spot, but the Lions know the real task lies ahead.
The Lions sealed their Ballarat Cricket Association spot through results in the last completed round, despite having a bye, but with top spot still up for grabs, the Lions are solely focused on defeating East Ballarat in the current round.
It will be only the third time in 15 years in which the Lions will play finals and the first time since 2012-13.
Lions coach Heath Pritchard said they were keen to finish as high on the ladder as possible and that a home final would be handy if it fell their way.
The Lions are sitting in third and could finish anywhere in the top four depending on other results.
Pritchard said it was exciting for the club.
“You want to finish as high as possible, especially if weather does play a part in finals,” he said. “We’re focussed on getting the win and controlling our own destiny. Whatever else happens, we’re in a good position in this game. If everything goes right, we’ll win.
“Hopefully, we can play well and have another four weekends of cricket left.
Going two weeks without a game, the Lions spent a lot of time in the nets. That work paid off on day one of the match against East Ballarat.
The Lions made 8-336.
“We tried to make sure we did a lot of batting and tried to make sure we stayed in form,” said Pritchard of the break.
“We trained both weekends and had extra hits. It hasn’t done us any harm, if this performance says anything.”
Pritchard was the pick of the batsmen making 97, but he said the most pleasing thing was the batting of Jake Wilkie (57) and Hasitha Wickramasinghe (36).
“It was a well-executed innings,” said Pritchard of the side’s batting. “We went at six runs an over for the last 30 overs.
“Those two innings were more important than mine.
“I went to No.4 with ‘Has’ opening, as we wanted to try something different. It seemed to – and it’s something that we might stick with. It doesn’t matter where I bat at my age.”
Pritchard said he backed the bowlers in to do the job this weekend against East Ballarat, but was aware that team made 300 last time it batted at home.
“Next Saturday, we’ve got to focus and make sure we bowl and field well,” he said.
