It’s always a special occasion when Rovers United Bruck and Wangaratta Magpies meet in the middle for an honest contest of bat and ball.

Wangaratta Magpies host their Golf Links Lane neighbours Rovers United Bruck for the last one-day fixture before the A grade competition moves into the T20 format.

After a lacklustre performance last weekend against the Lakers, the Magpies will be out to spoil the Hawks’ party and deny them an undefeated run through the first block of matches.

Wangaratta skipper Cooper Matheson said it was always a joy playing the Hawks, and raining on their parade would be a bonus.

“It’s always a good game, us versus them over the past four or five years, it’s always been pretty toe-to-toe against them,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot to prove after what we dished up on the weekend – I don’t think we can get much worse from that.”

Matheson is the first to say they haven’t gotten everything right so far this year, but they have done a lot right.

“A negative would be our fielding efforts, we’ve struggled to keep up the pressure for the full 45 [overs],” he said.

“We’ve only been doing one session where we’re good in the field and the other session is terrible.

“We’ve got a few good positives – with Tyler [Nanson] and Dave [Killen] coming into the side, they’ve been very good for us with bat and ball.

“They’ve both made over 140 runs and taken wickets for us, they’ve been huge.”

Nanson and Killen have been impactful, but they pale in comparison to the influence RUB’s opener Charith Perera is having this season.

From just four innings, Perera has smashed 234 runs with three half centuries, averaging 78 and striking at 120.62.

While both teams have produced remarkable results with the willow, this weekend’s match is shaping up as more of a grind.

This week, council workers have top-dressed pitches across Wangaratta including the Norm Minns Oval, dumping sand across the surface which is sure to cause headaches for batters and bowlers.

The sand will slow down the usually rapid outfield at the Showgrounds, meaning batters will have to either run more, go aerial or swing harder in order to find their runs.

At the same time, the coarse sand will cause the Kookaburra to deteriorate quicker, meaning bowlers will only have a limited window to extract any movement from the ball.

“You’ve just got to be a lot more patient with the bat,” Matheson said.

“You’ve got to not worry about the scoreboard, keep batting for time.

“We’ve had slow Showies grounds, in a one-dayer you’ll make 140 and you’ve been able to defend it.

“If we can get 140, 150 – we’ll aim for more – but you know you can defend it.”

Magpies take on Rovers United Bruck at Norm Minns Oval from 12.30pm on Saturday.