By Lachlan Onions
The Penola Eagles will return to action on Saturday when they pay visit to East Gambier in Round 8 of the Barber Shield.
This round will see the final one-dayers played for the season before the campaign concludes with three two-day rounds.
The Bulldogs and the Eagles have picked off up where they left off last season and have been highly competitive sides this year.
When these two sides last met, Penola claimed a 47-run first innings victory.
Lachy Jones ripped through the East batters last time and ended the first innings with figures of 5/31, while Dion Stratford was the shining light with the bat as he scored 68 runs.
A 69-run knock from Jack Mullan and an impressive 49 from Mark Smith was enough for Penola to surpass East’s first innings total.
Emerson Marks was the best of the bowlers and took 4/37.
Looking at the rest of the season, there has been little to separate last season’s grand finalists and both teams have won three games.
The Bulldogs will look to test the Eagles on their home deck and have taken the most wickets out of any side this season with 56.
Captain Alex Hentschke has led the way in that aspect with 15 scalps this year.
He has been supported by Marc Roberts who has taken 12 wickets this campaign.
Jones has led the way with the ball for Penola with 12 dismissals, while Mullan has also made a handy contribution with eight scalps.
With the bat, Stratford has led the way for East with 238 runs and scored a century back in Round 1.
For the visitors, Drew Clayfield and Mullan will be the batters to watch on Saturday as they have both scored more than 150 runs this season.
Penola will head into this game as slight favourites but a close contest will be expected to take place between two sides more than capable of claiming the holy grail this year.
