Don't expect Giants to lose any sleep over their 6-2 beating by Hutt Valley Marist in their Hutt Valley President's grade men's softball match at South Park, Masterton, on Saturday.
With the same two sides set to meet in the grand final in the Hutt this weekend Giants went intothe match determined to use it as a decent training run more than anything else and coach Allan Clarke was "very satisfied" with what transpired.
"It was our first competition game for three weeks so the main thing was to get the guys back in the swing of things, we weren't too worried about the end result at all," Clarke said. "Yes, we lost by four but we created enough scoring chances to be happy with how things went."
Giants, who were experiencing their first loss of the season and who had beaten HVM 4-2 the last time they met, were also without two of their key players, first string pitcher Tony Nixon and gun batter Richard Carroll. Nixon was on hand but spent the match umpiring at first base in what was a deliberate ploy by Giants to keep him fresh for the big one this weekend.
"We didn't want to give them a good look at Tony so close to the final," Clarke said, admitting he was surprised that Hutt Valley Marist played their No1 pitcher, former Wellington representative Paul Marsh. He was in top form too, keeping the strong Giants batting line-up under wraps through most of the match, but Clarke believes his players will be better prepared to take him on this weekend.
"It was a good reminder to them of how hard you have to work to get runs off pitchers of that calibre, it was an excellent wake-up call in that respect."
There was, however, still the odd flash of batting brilliance from Giants, none more so than the home run smashed by Gordon Wilmshurst, one of many scored by the powerful hitter through the 2011-12 season.
The pitcher-catcher combination of Ray Straford and Mark Fricker served Giants capably in the field and there was some good work there too from Bryan Hourigan and Russell Kawana.
The Giants under-18s had a 5-5 draw with Wainuiomata in their Hutt Valley competition match on Friday night while on Saturday the under-15s lost their semifinal match with Te Aroha.