FOURTH place on the ladder and a spot in the Upper Loddon cricket finals is a race in two for Boort Yando and the Bridgewater Bulls when the senior season resumes on Saturday with a one-day round.
Wedderburn Band and Kingower are streets ahead of the rest, while reigning premier Arnold sits fairly comfortably in third place.
Boort Yando are fourth, just three points ahead of the Bulls. Each team has won a single game this season.
The Bulls have a tough start to 2025, facing ladder leaders Wedderburn, while Arnold hosts Kingower and Boort has the bye, with five rounds remaining before the finals.
Boort Yando is undefeated in the junior competition, which returns a week later than the seniors.
Just two rounds of two-day matches are to be played before finals. 
As Arnold showed in the seniors last season – finishing fourth and last and then winning the flag – anything is possible in a four-team competition.
Loddon Valley pennant bowls midweek teams resume their season next week, with weekend sides to start the second half of their seasons the following Saturday.
Results before Christmas were mixed, with Wedderburn’s Division 1 North Central team the standout, sitting atop the ladder, with Boort in second last place. 
Bridgewater’s Division 2 Goldfields team is last on the ladder, while its Division 5 Bendigo side is second last, just behind Inglewood.
Pyramid Hill is struggling in the Northen District league, with three of four teams sitting at the foot of their respective ladders.
Calivil is third in Bendigo Division 4, with Dingee fifth. Serpentine is last in Division 2.
Tennis in the region resumes later in the month or in the first week of February.