The Campbelltown Camden Ghosts will need a miracle next week if they are to retain the Arthur Watson trophy.
After day one of the rivalry round clash with Liverpool Fairfield Lions on Saturday the home side find themselves needing to post a massive 431 runs to win on first innings.
But at the moment the cards are stacked against them, with the visitors poised to regain the trophy they lost last year.
The Lions lost just four wickets in scoring 430 runs in a ruthless display of batting at Raby 2.
Opening batsman Dean Attard brought up his 3,000th career run on his way to posting a personal best of 224 runs.
The Ghosts attack toiled for 100 overs on a flat and hard Raby 2 wicket.
But despite the windy conditions and unforgiving outfield, the Ghosts bowlers kept giving it their all until stumps.
Jordan Browne finished with 2/47 from 15 fine overs, while Monty Panesar bowled economically without luck, sending down 20 overs that cost him just 45 runs.
Adding to the woes of the Ghosts, the Lions are a good chance of having stars Doug Bollinger, Ben Rohrer and Gurinder Sandhu return to their ranks on day two this coming Saturday.
Which means that in reality the Ghosts will need a very big miracle indeed to get on top of the visitors.
They do have a friend in the pitch which is batting friendly, so time will tell if they can produce the extraordinary performance required to do the job.
♦ In other grades, despite losing the toss the Ghosts second grade got away to a good start, removing the Lions top order to have them 5/111 at lunch at Rosedale Oval. Unfortunately the Lions roared after lunch when their middle order frustrated the Ghosts attack. The Lions finished the day at 8/374, with Nathan Baker keeping them honest, bowling nicely for 27 overs and finishing with 3/69.
• The third grade fixture at Raby also saw the Lions in control at stumps. Ghosts got away to a good start posting 100 runs for the loss of two wickets. Vincent Hreszczuk made 38, but a batting collapse resulted in the Ghosts being dismissed for 144. At stumps the Lions were 3 for 166.
• The fourth grade match was played at Fairfield Oval and after day one the Ghosts are defending 166 runs. Chasing this low total the Lions have lost two wickets and require 100 more runs for victory.
• The Lions also have the upper hand in fifth grade as they chase 192. Half centuries to Umar Rashid (54) and spinner Tanveer Sangha (53) provided the backbone of the Ghosts innings. In reply, the Lions are 88 without loss.
