Point captain Josh White says his players know they must stick to the game plan.

East captain Simon Irving says his players are treating this match as their first semi-final.

Whichever way you look at this match, the loser's Ballarat Cricket Association club firsts finals dreams are over for the season. Buried.

East is ranked fourth leading into the final home-and-away round and victory from the two-day bout starting at Eastern Oval tomorrow, will seal a finals spot.

Point's formula is slightly more conditional.

Fifth-ranked Point sits five points behind the Hawks and will play finals with a win this round as long as Brown Hill does not claim an outright or mammoth win against Darley at Western Oval.

Neither captain is prepared to leave anything to chance.

The Hawks have only lost three matches this season, falling only to the higher-ranked Wendouree and Ballarat-Redan (twice).

Irving said his younger players would take confidence in having beaten Point in a one-day match last month.

"If we win a game of cricket we're into the semi-finals.

"At the start of the year we spoke about where we wanted to be at and that was to make the four, any spot in the four, and get our young guys some finals experience.''

The Hawks enter the match from a heavy nine-wicket loss to third-placed Ballarat-Redan.

Key batsman Chris Gardner returns this round in a straight swap for unavailable wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Rieniets.

Irving said Gardner should strengthen the young batting order, which struggled for consistency last week.

Point has also looked to bolster is batting stocks after falling four runs short of a modest Brown Hill tally at Eastern Oval last round.

Like East, Point is hungry to redeem itself.

Middle-order bats Anthony Hinde and Luke Jephcott have been called on for their experience in high pressure games.

Matt Swards' return will add bite to Point's bowling attack.

White said the vibe had been flat in the rooms on Saturday after letting slip what could have assured Point a finals spot.

His players are clear this is their finals chance.

"It should be a fairly close game. Most of the boys have trained well and know what they have to do,'' White said.

"We need to do what we plan right from the start."

Both captains said their team had produced good seasons and deserved to play in the finals.

This is their chance to prove worthy.