City United spearhead Tait Jordan has evoked a dark chapter in the side's development in order to highlight their improvement and declare that it is time for the "big boys to stand up".
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City will likely need to be at their best, or close to it, to knock off reigning premiers Old Boys in the major semi-final at No 1 this weekend.
Tait said City would enter the two-day clash in a much better headspace than this time last season.
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"Last year we were Christmas champions and then we were March pretenders," he said, adding: [But this season] we've kept that consistent form, and we just keep improving, playing better cricket, and hopefully we keep going."
He continued: "We know we can beat them [Old Boys], and we're quietly confident."
After a great start to last season, City limped into the corresponding match 12 months ago, but were in a strong position to get a first-innings win against Old Boys before the game was washed out.
West Tamworth then beat City in the preliminary final.
City have won two more matches and lost two less compared to 2018-19.
This season, they have played only twice since the Christmas break because of rain - and Old Boys beat them in both those games, to go with an earlier defeat of City.
Jordan, a right-arm quick with a strong work ethic, topped the bowling standings this season: 29 wickets at an average of 14.03.
He said: "Obviously, those sort of personal milestones are just a little added boost ... the team comes first, and winning games comes first. But yeah, my part is to take wickets and bowl well.
"And, obviously, I am doing that. So, I'm happy to keep going.
"The first part of the season is over, and now it's time for the big boys to stand up and do their job."
In the minor semi-final at Riverside 1, North Tamworth will need to repel a confident Bective East to advance.
Norths have only played twice since the Christmas break, with the Bulls beating them on both occasions.
But Norths' veteran top-order batsman Brendan Rixon said the side were feeling confident and were looking to exert their mental superiority over Bective by taking their chances.
"I think it shapes up to be an interesting weekend of cricket, to be honest," he said, adding that the dearth of cricket was "frustrating" but was a "good chance to freshen up".
"There's probably not too many bowlers with injuries running around," he said.
North Tamworth have failed to capture their early season form. Rixon said they needed to "create opportunities" consistently to do so.
