CHARLESTOWN can sense a chance to reach the top four before Christmas but captain Daniel Arms "knows there's still plenty of work to do" at Townson Oval this Saturday.
The fifth-placed Magpies will defend 284 on day two with hosts Merewether resuming at 0-13.
First-innings points, alongside a loss for fourth-placed City (216) against Wallsend (2-90), would see Charlestown sneak up a rung on Newcastle District Cricket Association's ladder with one round left prior to the mid-season break.
"We're only halfway through the year but you always want to be top four at Christmas," Arms said.
"It's a huge weekend for us and if we can find a way to knock off Wests [next round] as well it would be massive going into Christmas with all that momentum."
However, at the forefront of Arms' mind is last round's 700-run encounter at the same venue, featuring Merewether's unsuccessful chase of 347.
"Everyone saw the scores from the week before and how many they got, so everyone knows there's still plenty of work to do," he said.
"We would have taken 284 at the start of the day, but we're halfway done at best."
Arms was pleased with contributions throughout Charlestown's batting order, including seven scores between 20 and 50 plus 99 runs for the final three wickets.
"Obviously you want one of those to go on and get 100, but it's probably something we haven't had for a while with everyone contributing to put a decent score on the board," he said.
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