Sitting two points outside the top five CHURCHILL will return home to Gaskin Park following a tough two weeks on the road.

It has been lean pickings for the Cougars who come away with two losses against quality opposition in Heyfield and Cowwarr and now find themselves on the outer sitting in sixth position. By no means outplayed in both contests the Cougars held handy leads before failing to find a way to get the job done when it mattered.

Round 11 will be of special significance for the Cougars with the club assisting the 'Crocka Foundation' in launching the inaugural 'Crocka Cup' in honour and memory of club legend 259 games holder David 'Crocka' Williams. David died suddenly on the 1st January 2011 suffering cardiac arrest at the age of 35. Having worn the number 13 guernsey over his career, David's son Chris, Churchill senior captain will wear the guernsey with pride on Saturday when he is joined by team mates and TTU players in honouring his father's memory.

Claiming the honours in the two side's earlier meeting, the match is a must win for Churchill who can ill afford to fall further away from the main pack which sees eight points sit between second and seventh place. The Cougars will be well aware of the stakes the next few weeks will have on securing a final berth as the competition moves towards the pointy end of the season.

Suffering a 44 point defeat at the hands of the Wildcats in their round two encounter, GORMANDALE will be confident that they can reverse the result with the Tigers showing patches of impressive form over the past month.

Coach Luke Henderson will be fully aware that his side will need to bring to the contest their best hard accountable footy if they are to match it against a side who will be reeling from what has been a disappointing month on the calendar.

Brushing aside several opponents with percentage boosting victories, it has been far from one way traffic over the past month with WOODSIDE enduring an indifferent four weeks on the fixture. Bursting out of the blocks to take all before them in the earlier part of the season, many may feel the Wildcats are battle weary with the side winning just one of their past four, including the sides surprise defeat at the hands of the Bombers last Sunday.

Saturday provides Woodside with an opportunity to take breath and reclaim their early season form before a tough run towards finals.

BOISDALE/BRIAGOLONG outfit made an impression on the opposition with a competitive performance which saw the Bombers seal their third win.

In comparison, SALE CITY exploded out of the blocks in an impressive opening quarter against Glengarry before fading out of the contest. This week the Dogs will be further challenged when the evolving side is pitted against the Bombers who remonstrated with the Wildcats in a tough physical contest.
Continuing to blood a number of thirds eligible players into the lineup, the young pups will meet another developing young side with the baby Bombers expected to play a tight brand of football on their home turf.

In their current form it is hard not to look past the Bombers to make it two wins on the run.

Contesting a number of classic matches in past seasons, the contest between seventh placed GLENGARRY and ladder leaders HEYFIELD promises plenty.

Renowned for their tough ruthless clashes, both sides will be aware they can ill afford to allow the opposition a sniff or the game may be over by half time. The pressure is set to be paramount as the two sides search for the points with Heyfield looking to avoid back to back losses.

Having made a clean sweep of the past month with four straight victories, the Magpies will know just how far they have come since turning their season around after a dismal opening five rounds.

For football followers they may just have a sense of dejavu, for the second time in as many seasons ROSEDALE has claimed the scalp of Heyfield twice during the home and away season.

Stepping up when the gauntlet was thrown at them, the Blues responded to the reigning premier's challenge with the win to go a long way in defining last year's grand finalist's second half of the season.

This week the Blues will need to refocus with the side to host COWWARR who kept its finals pulse beating with a gutsy come from behind victory last Saturday. The Saints went into the game with a 5- 4 record and needed a win to keep in touch with the top five.

The Saints are one of several teams with confident claims of a finals berth. The stage is set for an enticing contest; the Blues have demonstrated continued improvement while the Saints have taken all before them after a slow start to the season matching it with the competitions front runners. Winning three of their last four games the Saints are slowly gaining momentum with round 10 elevating Cowwarr into the top five for the first time this season.

Little separates the two sides on paper, with this evident by the four point margin in their round two clash. The Blues back six continue to stifle opposition sides with relentless defensive pressure. And it's Rosedale's defensive pressure that is going to have a significant bearing on whether the Saints continue their winning run after this weekend.

The Saints forward line structure is a solid unit which boasts many avenues to goals, with league leading goal kicker Tim Johnston to be closely guarded by the Blues back six. Booting 42 goals for the season Johnston has relished as the Saints key forward and has made the 50 metre arc his own.

However, the Saints will come up against the competitions fifth ranked defensive unit. The Blues backline is a formidable combination, who rebound hard from defence setting their forwards up on many occasions.

With both sides end of seasons ambitions weighing heavily on the result, spectators are set to expect a tight contest which may be decided by the side whose backline takes control of the match from the opening bounce.

By Lauren Carey