Only 10 men were available for the Stallions’ exhibition final on Saturday but skipper Will McGrath said the players who showed gained valuable time out in the middle.

“It was a bit tough having only 10 players and missing a few key men, but in the end the Hogan Cup is just the fun game,” he said.

“We had a few blokes we wanted padding up and facing deliveries which we managed to do for a while.”

The Stallions lost the toss but gained ascendancy early with a pair of quick wickets.

Lotts were reeling at 2-1 inside the first two overs before gun batsmen John Smith took the fight to Junee, cracking boundaries with ease enroute to a classy 112 no out. 

McGrath rued a few missed chances but credited the Lotts veteran. 

“We put a few chances down on John, a stumping here and a dropped catch there, but he’s a good player once he gets going,” he said.

“He really took the game away from us.”

Set 192 to win, the undermanned Junee side never really stood a chance.

“We got rolled for around 90, from memory, but it was good to get some time out in the middle ahead of Coolac,” McGrath said.

“There’s plenty of positives to take out of it.”

Now, all eyes are turned to Saturday’s showdown with arch-rivals Coolac.

McGrath is confident his side can produce another upset over the Elder Cup heavyweights, provided they take their chances in the field.

“It should be a really good game,” he said.

“Coolac are a good side and we’ll be in for a tough one.

“I think we can do it but if we’re going to win, we must take our chances in the field, be it run-outs, catches or stumpings.”

The Junee Stallions will take on Coolac at Stan Crowe Oval in Gundagai on Saturday, March 17. Match begins at 12pm