The Tigers secured a bonus-point win over Tatura on Saturday to rise into sixth spot on the table with one round remaining in the regular season.
It keeps the fate of Brendan Scott's troops in their own hands — knowing a win against old foe Mooroopna will steer them into the post-season with three triumphs on the trot.
“We've got a lot of history with Mooroopna,” Scott said.
“But it doesn't matter what has happened last year, over the past three years or two decades — one of us is going to be able to say they knocked the other out of contention and one will be really disappointed.
“I'm expecting a good, hard contest.”
Against Tatura in round 12 the Tigers once again found plenty of contributors, with Rhiley Lau (44 from 41 deliveries) and Scott (4-20) the standouts.
But Scott knows having seven batters score between 15 and 44 will not be good enough come finals time against the best sides in the business — no matter how well his side bowls.
“I say it to the boys all the time, our potential is as good as anyone,” Scott said.
“But our performances this year have been well below that.
“The good sides have one or two that go on with it with the bat every week, and that's what we need.
“It comes down to the changing of the gears when we're batting, we tend to just go straight to 150 per cent rather than pull back and keep pushing the ones and twos.
“We've got a really good all-round side, we just need someone to step up with the bat and ball on top of that each week.”
The 9-199 for Central Park at Deakin Reserve was enough to defeat Tatura by 108 runs, with Xavier Chalkley (29), Ramadan Yze (28) and Scott (26) all finishing in the 20s.
“In terms of the bonus point, bowling second we knew we had to get them out before they got to 80 per cent of our runs,” Scott said.
“We felt like we had that under control for the whole innings.”
For Tatura, Blake Armstrong battled well with the ball to finish with figures of 4-28 from seven overs, while Bailey Archer and Sean Martin snared two wickets apiece.
Lachie Magee's 23 from 33 was the top score for the visitors in the chase.
“We go into the last round with a chance to play finals now which is great,” Scott said.
“As soon as you're out of contention it's hard to keep the motivation levels up.
“It's fantastic to have such an even season, last week when you were looking at all of the possibilities there were so many.
“Even now it's all really up in the air, but we know if we win we'll make it which is a good thing.
“I'll back us in, we've got a lot of confidence in the group”
THE GAME
Central Park-St Brendan's 9-199 (Rhiley Lau 44, Xavier Chalkley 29, Blake Armstrong 4-28, Sean Martin 2-30, Bailey Archer 2-38) d Tatura 91 (Lachie Magee 23, Brendan Scott 4-20).
STAR PLAYER
Brendan Scott (Central Park-St Brendan's): The Tigers skipper and all-rounder stood tall to get his side off to a fast start with the bat and ensure a crucial bonus point with the ball.
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