Bulls Fight for Survival With only Four Rounds Left

THE fight for survival meets the fight for the minor premiership when Trinity Aquinas hosts Maddington in Round 15 of the A Grade this weekend.

After looking likely to finish in the bottom two and facing the prospect of spending 2013 in B Grade, Maddington have recorded consecutive victories over North Fremantle and Collegians in the past two rounds to sit one win above the bottom two.

At the other end of the table Trinity Aquinas have been the pace setters for the majority of the season, losing only two matches to sit in first spot, one win ahead of University in second and two wins ahead of third placed Collegians.

A win for Maddington would add but guarantee them safety and another year in A Grade, while a win for Trinity would cement their position at the top of the table.

Adding to the intrigue of the match is the fact Maddington handed Trinity Aquina’s their first, and one of only two losses, the last time these two sides met back in Round 6.

In a similar situation are North Fremantle and Collegians – ninth and third respectively, who meet in a contest that could have significant bearing on the race to avoid relegation and the minor premiership.

A Grade stalwarts North Fremantle find themselves in foreign territory at the bottom end of the ladder heading into finals for the first time in years, one win behind safety and Maddington in eighth place, and the club will be desperate to avoid the drop to B Grade.

Their opponents, Collegians, are in a fight of their own however, looking to bounce back and get themselves in contention for the minor premiership the after a defeat to Maddington on the weekend.

If results don’t go their way Collegians could be looking at being only one loss from dropping to fourth while North Fremantle could potentially be two games away from eighth place and safety from the drop.

In another match that looks to have huge finals implications, Swan Athletic host long-time A Grade champions North Beach. The Beach are just two spots head of Swan Athletic in fourth place and only two wins from falling back outside the five.

Conversely, Swan Athletic are just one win from fifth placed Whitford and could find themselves in fifth position by the end of the round.

To finish the weekend in finals spot would be a huge achievement for the newly promoted Swan Athletic, and their supporters will be keeping one eye on the result at UWA Sports Park to see whether University can defeat Whitford and open the door for Swan Ath.

University – who currently sit in second place – will head into the match favourites, but the game is far from won with the back end of the season notorious for throwing up shock results as sides scramble to make finals.

The final match of the round is between bottom side Hamersley Carine and seventh placed Mt Lawley, who are also only one win from fifth place on the ladder.

After spending the majority of the season near the bottom of the ladder, the 2011 Grand Finalists have won three out of their past four matches to give themselves a chance of not only survival, but of making the five.

A win and other results falling their way could mean that Mt Lawley, who were eighth in round 10, would be in the top five by the end of the weekend.

Hamersley Carine have only won the one game for the season and are all but guaranteed to be relegated to B Grade at the end of the season but would love to upset the run in to the finals of some of their rivals with a shock victory or two.

Bounce down for all matches is at 2:30pm, following Colts at 10:45am and Reserves at 12:35pm.