Giants should start as hot favourites

Cross Country Rentals Giants have taken an early lead in the Inter-City men's softball series with three wins from as many matches but they will be taking nothing for granted in the two games facing them this weekend.
Tomorrow they will travel over the hill to play Johnsonville and on Sunday they will play Hawke's Bay at South Park in Masterton.
Johnsonville has had a mixed start to their Inter-City campaign, beating Hutt City 13-11 in their opening game and then suffering narrow losses to Hutt Valley Marist (0-3) and Miramar (2-4).
And just last weekend they lost to Giants 5-1 in the Doreen Dalton tourney in Wellington, a tournament in which Giants reached the semi-finals before being ousted by Miramar.
Those results would suggest Giants should start hot favourites against Johnsonville tomorrow but coach Tony Nixon doesn't see it that way.
He said a Johnsonville side with the reliable Joseph McAndrew at pitcher and former Black Sox Luke Abbott at catcher was capable of beating any of the Inter-City teams on a good day, and predicted Giants would need to be in their best form to thwart their challenge.
"Quite honestly there is very little between the two sides quality-wise, it could go either way," Nixon said.
Hawke's Bay is an unknown quantity. They are the newcomers in the Inter-City series and will actually be playing their first three matches this weekend, two of them in Wellington on Saturday and then the one against Giants in Masterton on Sunday.
Nixon is unsure of the actual composition of the Hawke's Bay line-up but with a number of Junior Black Sox players resident in that province he sees them as being a young, enthusiastic side with no shortage of natural talent. "They should be very competitive, again we'll need to play well to get a result," he said.
Whether Giants will be at full strength this weekend is debatable with pitcher Ritchie Clarke on the doubtful list for tomorrow because of accountancy exams and Terry Waitere having stitches in a hand injury.
He could miss both games.