United have taken the honours in three of the five matches played between the two sides this season including the last two. They prevailed by 20 runs in the only two day match completed and scraped home by three wickets in the other rain-affected match.

Old Bar grabbed the minor premiership via a last round outright victory over Taree West while United disposed of Wingham to lock in second spot. United progressed to the final when last weekend's elimination final against Wingham was washed out on Sunday with United on 4/92.

Both teams are expected to be at full strength and each contains a mixture of experience and youth. Statistically they are evenly matched.

Old Bar play an aggressive brand of cricket with more than 50 per cent of their runs coming in boundaries. They like to score quickly and this can sometimes bring about their undoing. Ben Cole is the key batsman for them. The leftie has been in the top echelon of batsmen for the past decade and posted 543 and 38.79 this season. He controls the innings and rarely concedes his wicket cheaply.

Captain David Rees will most likely bat at three and has also put together some good scores in making 395 at 26.33, including a maiden century. Daniel Stone has also chipped in during the season scoring some handy runs and I expect them to determine how many Old Bar makes.

Old Bar has the more potent bowling attack with Paxton Kelly and Dave Rees taking the new ball. Both claimed 31 wickets at 13 apiece and should prove to be a handful on the grassy JMO track. Reece Whitton will provide support while off-spinner Danial Stone will get plenty of overs to improve upon his 36 scalps and his top spinner will need watching.

The United top order looks solid with Josh Ferris the standout performer. He smashed a new one day record of 175 not out against Old Bar early in the season which helped him top the run scorers list on 591 at 53.73. The inclusion of local legend Murray McCartney at number three has provided a huge boost and he has scored consistently. McCartney knows how to win finals and has an extensive collection of premiership caps.

Captain Ricky Campbell made 423 at 30.21 and should be primed for more runs from number four. In my opinion the United lower order are less prone to collapse with Tom Burley, Matt Kennewell and Matt Collier key components.

Burley, a 17 year old left-arm first change bowler, finished as the top trundler with 39 wickets at 10.82. His contribution will be pivotal along with that of Jackson Witts who can bowl long spells. Early wickets will be critical to their success as United rely less on spin where Campbell and Dean Mills are the main options.

It usually only takes one or two standout performances to win a match.

Both teams contains players who have performed previously. It is who performs on the day that counts. Let's hope we get the chance to see those performances rather than having the result determined by the impact of weather.

Old Bar squad: D Rees (c), R Whitton, P Kelly, B Cole, D Stone, M Burgess, B Coleman, L Polson, T Rees, A Studdart, B Fuller, C Watson.

United squad: R Campbell (c), J Ferris, L Weeks, M McCartney, M Kennewell, W Donovan, M Collier, T Burley, J Burton, D Mills, J Witts, B Stewart, M Brown.