HOME-ground advantage may be the right tonic for East Gambier when it hosts West Gambier in Round 5 of Barber Shield cricket.
The weekend sees the two sides do battle at Scott Park, but the gap between to the pair suggests the Bulldogs are up against it.
East is yet to record a victory this season, while West has lost just one game – against the top-placed North Sportsman’s last round.
In the same round the Bulldogs went down to the struggling Mil Lel, falling well short of the 153-run first-innings total.
The inclusion of former Kongorong player Alex Hentschke in the side has done little to help, with his own performances under par.
However, against Mil Lel Hentschke top scored for his side with the bat, reaching 24 runs among a long list of ducks.
With the ball he finished with figures of 2/21 off eight overs in the first innings, only bettered by teammate Simon Golebiowski, who managed 2/13 off his eight.
With the bat Darren Whitehorn was the only other Bulldog to reach double figures, with 13 runs.
Ben Thiel and Jack Miller did the damage with the ball, both claiming three wickets and tearing the East batting lineup apart.
Miller was best out of the two, finishing with 3/9 off just 3.4 overs.
West has shown plenty of class this season, but against North a poor performance with the bat saw the side out for 88 runs in the 32nd over of a limited-overs clash.
That being said, the Roos are sure to want to put that behind them and consolidate their second position on the ladder this week.
With the ball they have been well served by recruits Sam Willis and Ben Hentschke, while with the bat Jake Blackwell, Bowen Hosking, Jack Gosling and Niall Easterbrook have all reached half-centuries.
What it adds up to is a huge task for the Bulldogs if they are to climb out of the cellar this season.
