At first glance, Kyneton is about to enter its toughest three weeks of the BFNL season.
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The Tigers play Eaglehawk (away), Golden Square (home) and Strathfieldsaye (away) to round out the first half of the home and away season.
Kyneton coach Luke Beattie disagrees. Beattie said the tightness of the competition meant every week was tough.
“The league has become more even, which is great for the league and was well shown in our inter-league match with Ballarat where we should have won,’’ Beattie said.
“The next three weeks will say a lot about where we’re at, but at the same time the previous three-week period we had said a lot about where we’re heading.
“We drew with Sandhurst, lost by two points to South Bendigo and had a good win over Flat. After South Bendigo beat Sandhurst it makes our form look better than maybe what some people thought.”
The Tigers (4-1-1) are in third place, with a half-game advantage over fifth-placed Eaglehawk.
A win at Canterbury Park on Saturday would give the Tigers a very handy six-point buffer on the Hawks and, potentially, Golden Square.
The Tigers have a horror record at Canterbury Park. They’ve only won twice at the Hawks’ home ground in the past 20 years.
“We have to travel to Eaglehawk which is a big challenge… it’s a bit like other teams having to travel to Kyneton,’’ Beattie said.
“Our group will go there with the right attitude on the back of a really positive game (against Kangaroo Flat).”
The Tigers will be strengthened on Saturday by the return of key defender Harrison Huntley and full forward Mitch Scholard.
Huntley could be an option to play on Eaglehawk full-forward Matt Gretgrix, who bagged nine goals when the teams last met in the 2016 elimination final.
Kyneton defender Kevin Clark is likely to miss the game after suffering a lower leg injury against the Roos.