IT is down to the business end of the Women’s 1sts season, and eight teams have become four, which will soon only become two. This weekend sees two semi finals, with the winners to progress to the Grand Final over the long weekend. We have two enthralling matches to enjoy this weekend, including a battle between two finals debutants.

Both matches start at 10:30am on Sunday.

Melbourne vs Box Hill
Albert Ground

Despite a slight slip up in recent weeks, Melbourne has been the most dominant team this season, and quite frankly in several years, so will go into this match as favourites. The Demons come up against a Box Hill side who have been playing like their life depends on it in recent weeks and secured their place in the finals last week with a good win over the Bombers. This clash is more complicated than it looks on paper.

Although Melbourne has been the better side all year, it was actually the Mustangs who won in their last clash only a few weeks ago, so do not count them out of this at all. Both sides have some exceptional talent to keep an eye on.

For Melbourne, their batting line up is littered with talent that could put a side away easily. Amy Vine has had a stellar season with the bat, making the second most runs of the entire competition this season, and once she gets going can be hard to stop. Hasrat Gill has also been prominent and damaging with the ball, taking the equal second most wickets for the season of the entire competition.

Meanwhile for the Mustangs, their skipper Zoe Griffiths has had another exceptional season, both with bat and ball. She used to be a wicket keeper, but has made the transition to a bowler and it has worked wonders for the Mustangs.

Anna Lanning has also been dangerous with the bat at times for the Mustangs this season, but she may be away on Victorian duties this weekend, while Isabel White has been so dangerous with the ball and is leading the competition for most wickets taken this season.

Carlton vs Ringwood
Princess Park

The battle of the finals debutants sees Carlton take on Ringwood. Both these sides were promoted to the Premier 1sts in the same year, so it is poetic they make their finals debut in the same year too. Carlton secured its place in the finals weeks ago and have had a great season, while Ringwood have been on a good run of form recently and managed to qualify for the finals with a win over the Blues just last weekend.

Although Carlton have been the better side this year and finished higher on the ladder, Ringwood did beat the Blues twice this season, including as previously mentioned to make it into the finals last weekend. Much like the Dees and Mustangs clash, both sides in this match have some exceptional talent to keep an eye on. From a batting perspective, it’s the top two or three batters to keep an eye on for both sides.

For Carlton, its openers Sophie Reid and Cailin Green have been exceptional this season. Once they get going, they can really set up an innings well for the Blues. There is a chance Reid will be away on Victorian duties this weekend though, after she made her debut for the side during the week.

Meanwhile for the Rams, Bhavisha Devchand and Una Raymond-Hoey have been the dangerous ones this season. Devchand is actually currently leading the competition for most runs scored this season, while Irish star Raymond-Hoey has also put a lot of big scores on the board this season.

From a bowling perspective, it is Madison Albers and Hailey Ferris that are the ones to keep an eye on for their respective sides. Albers has consistently been the top wicket taker in any given match for the Blues, while Ferris is capable of taking 6/30 in one innings, which is the best individual performance with the ball so far this season.