HAVING already claimed first-innings points, West Gambier is in the box seat for an outright victory in Round 5 of Barber Shield cricket tomorrow.
The Roos made short work of East Gambier on day one of play, winning the toss and sending the Bulldogs in to bat.
From there it was one-way traffic, with only one East batsman reaching double figures.
That was Simon Golebiowski in the middle order, with his 11 not out hardly a shining light on a dark day for the Bulldogs.
The top six batsmen in the lineup offered just 25 runs off the bat, with even less down the order.
It equated to just 46 runs in total, all out in the 35th over, which West had little trouble reaching, although the fourth wicket did fall at that same total.
Richard Crute did much of the damage for the Roos, with figures of 4/14 off 12 overs and Ben Hentschke was also impressive, with 3/12 off just five overs.
While it was a shaky start for West with the bat, which saw opener Bowen Hosking back on the sidelines for a duck, there is still plenty left in the shed for day two.
Much of the top order has gone, with Jake Blackwell, Crute and Hentschke all out for small numbers, but opener Tye McManus is staring at a half-century, unbeaten on 39 at stumps on day one.
Youngster Sam Willis also looks set, with 10 runs to his name from the overnight total of 4/75.
Should the partnership flourish early, Niall Easterbrook and Sam Coxon are ready to enter the clash, both capable of finding runs.
If West can take the initiative and push hard, a reasonable total half way through the day could be enough to apply scoreboard pressure, declare, bring about a second-innings collapse from the Bulldogs and in turn the outright victory.
But speedster Alex Hentschke and Golebiowski have shared the four wickets for East so far and will look to continue that success tomorrow.
If they can get among the remaining batsmen they could turn their fortunes and save the outright defeat.
Either way the hosts are up against it at Scott Park, with little to lose but pride.
