The Wolves started the match strongly and were leading 8-2 until the ninth inning when Melbourne staged a fightback to score five runs. However, the side held on thanks to some impressive bowling by Aaron Green who "threw an outstanding game", according to his coach Dave Simpson.

"Aaron played a fantastic game and really stepped up to win the match for our side and he did it at a crucial time in our season, when we had to win to secure a place in the finals," Simpson said.

"He rejoined our side after spending a season at Newport last year and he is a great addition to our squad and I'm glad we convinced him to come back to the club."

As for Melbourne, Simpson is pleased his side defeated a team which had beaten them comfortably earlier in the season.

"It was really good to beat a quality side like Melbourne and it has put the feather in the cap for us as we had lost to them in our previous match and the win will give us confidence leading into the finals," he said.

"Everyone in the side played really well and it was great to have an all-round team performance at this stage in the season even though the match went down to the wire."

The Wolves will face bottom side Footscray in the final round of the season this Sunday where a win could push them into third spot. Simpson said his side would "go out to win".

"It will be highly unlikely that we lose to Footscray as we have better players and should be too strong for them but we have to take the match seriously and go out to win," Simpson said.

As for the finals, Simpson is adamant his side is capable of beating any team it faces and is desperate to prove it deserves to be a top-four team.

"Finals is like a different season altogether and we will not go into it just to make up the numbers as we have good players who have worked hard over the past few months.

"We will definitely give the finals a shake-up and show we deserve to be where we are."