Herts Falcons have reached the halfway point of the National Baseball League season with a record of four wins and eight losses, standing two games back from the play-off places.

Manager Lee Manning will be looking for a big effort from his players in the second half of the NBL season. Despite the difficult start of the season, largely due to a series of injuries, the Falcons remain upbeat as their play-off hopes are very much alive and they have their fate in their own hands.

They currently find themselves in sixth place and need to move up two places to secure a play-off berth. The Bracknell Blazers are currently fifth, just one game ahead of the Falcons so a sweep against them on July 27 will help them move ahead. The Nationals are in fourth place, two games ahead. A sweep for the Falcons in their doubleheader at the Nats on August 3 will see them move into the play-offs if they can score four runs more than their opposition in that doubleheader.

The London Mets, currently third, are also within reach. To go above the Mets in the NBL standings the Falcons will need to win both games of their doubleheader coming up next for Herts on July 13.

In summary, the Falcons can overtake any of these three teams. The head-to-head meetings with the teams will be massive occasions, but the race may be turned on its head by other results. It all makes for an exciting second half of the season for Herts fans.

All Herts teams were resting at the weekend with the exception of the Herts Eagles. They travelled to the reigning Triple-A League champions, London Metros, but were not able to cause an upset. They went down 9-0 and 12-2.