Smarting Kaipara to hit back

Kaipara Flats have enjoyed success in their battle for Northland supremacy over rivals City this season but when the prize is a place in the Northern Districts club championships final, all bets are off.
The two form clubs of this year's Northland competition meet tomorrow at Kensington Park for another battle with Kaipara still smarting from their first loss of the season to City last Saturday, when they were rolled for just 45 runs.
Kaipara skipper Jake Phillips said that loss was still on their minds and he was pleased to be able to field their strongest team of the season tomorrow.
With both clubs' first class players, James Marshall and Brad Wilson, available, the batting line-up should be more than a match for City's bowlers.
"We've been lacking a couple of batsmen recently but that problem's been solved this weekend, and from our point of view it's nice to get the chance to turn last week's result around so soon," he said.
City were elated after beating Kaipara last weekend but know they'll have a closer match on their hands tomorrow.
"We've got a bit of a roll recently but cricket's a funny game sometimes and it's a fine line between confidence and being complacent - but Kaipara are a different prospect with Brad and James back in the side - and we're excited about the challenge," skipper Rory Darkins said.
City have a first class addition of their own to counter the presence of Marshall and Wilson, with another Knights player Joey Yovich dropping in to the side.
"We've both got strong sides for tomorrow's game and whoever wins this weekend could determine who has the better season overall, so it's all there to play for," Darkins said.
Kaipara edged out City to win the Lion Red One-Day competition and the NCA Twenty20 competition but both teams have yet to meet in the final of the Mark Cromie Holden One-Day competition and City now have a handy lead in the Two-Day competition - giving tomorrow's game extra weighting.
The winner of tomorrow's match will go through to meet the winner of the Mt Maunganui-Hamilton Old Boys semifinal. Kaipara won through to the ND club final last year but were beaten by Mt Maunganui and Phillips believes the current champions will again be the team to beat this year.
The last time Kaipara represented ND at the national club championships - held annually at the Cornwall Cricket Club - was in 1998, while City last qualified in 2007. The match gets under way at 10.30am at Kensington Park.
The Kaipara team: Brad Wilson, Kevin Forde, Mike O'Flaherty, James Marshall, Brett Hood, Tazz Satti, Kyran Dill, Ray Beamish, Jake Phillips (c), Matt Taylor, Dexter Buchanan, John Fitzpatrick (12th man).
The City team: Rory Darkins, Bert Horner, Ian Page, Joey Yovich, Chris Page, Richard Atkins, Harry Darkins, Kurt Wilson, Vishan Harypursat, Jamie Kaye, Kieron Nelson, Chris Lambley (12th)