FINISHING without a perfect record from the Rod Hartas Trophy pool stages won't be an acceptable result in the eyes of Bathurst, who face Gulgong at the Sportsground this Sunday.
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The hosts are guaranteed a place in next month's final while all three other sides in the competition can still take the remaining place depending on how the weekend's fixtures play out.
Bathurst has been ruthless in their earlier pool games against Blue Mountains and Mudgee.
They won by six wickets over Blue Mountains, led by a 3-18 haul across seven overs from Hugh Parsons.
The team continued their dominant ways as they bested Mudgee by nine wickets thanks to a brilliant team effort with the ball and knocks from Andrew Brown (40), Hamish Siegert (42 not out) and Ben Cant (29 not out).
With the bulk of the Bathurst team back for the last game before next month's final they're going to be red hot favourites to make it three from three.
Bathurst skipper Brown said it's good for those who miss out on selection in the first-string district game to get any sort of extra match time.
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"Those first two games were great for our young guys," he said.
"The other teams probably aren't at the same skill level, so it can be hard to say how good or bad we're travelling at the moment.
"Most of the guys in here play in first grade and with the other towns being smaller they don't have the same level of competition.
"I reckon if you added one or two more senior guys you could nearly put this team into [Western Zone] Premier League. A couple of teams, like Bathurst and Dubbo, would be tough but they'd take it to the other teams."
Should Bathurst beat Gulgong then Blue Mountains would almost be guaranteed to take the remaining ticket to the final, barring a monumental loss to Mudgee.
Sunday's games get underway at 10am.
The top two teams in the competition will face off in the final on February 7.