Giants face tall order

There could be plenty at stake when Giants fronts up to Poneke-Kilbirnie and Miramar in Inter-City series men's softball matches tomorrow.
Unless they managed to topple Hutt City United in an earlier game last night Giants will need to win one of these two matches to guarantee them a semi-final berth, something they have never achieved before in the Inter-City competition.
Giants coach Tony Nixon said his team were "dead keen" to make the top four, especially after the disappointment of losing their Hutt Valley premier division semi-final encounter with Cardinals last Thursday evening.
Giants blew an 8-1 lead in that game to be beaten 9-8 and therefore ended their hopes of successfully defending the premier division title they won 12 months earlier.
Nixon said the frustration within the Giants camp at that loss was shown when they went on a firewood cutting fund raising exercise two days later.
"There were some pretty hefty blows struck.
"They really ripped into it," he said.
Nixon believes that Cardinals defeat could, in fact, work in Giants's favour this weekend as they could now concentrate all their energies on making the Inter-City semis.
But at the same time he readily conceded that beating teams like P-K and Miramar would require a peak effort from his side.
"They'd be two of the better club sides in the country and nothing is guaranteed when you play teams of their quality",he said.
"The chances are these games will go right down to the wire and you usually need an ounce of luck to get by."