Lambton Jaffas v Edgeworth FC
Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility, Saturday 3pm
Edgeworth FC coach Pete McGuinness is determined to lift the silverware when they take on Edgeworth FC in the Men’s State Cup final on Saturday.
The two sides will go head-to-head at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility after they qualified as Northern NSW Football’s national Australia Cup representatives in the round of 32.
The Eagles coach looked forward to the challenge of taking on the league leaders and said his side‘s eyes are solely on the prize.
“As a sportsperson, you want to win everything that you go in,” McGuinness said.
“It is a Cup match; we want to win.
“There haven’t been any games this season that I have not believed that we could win and tomorrow will be no different.
“The confidence is high amongst the group.
“But we know that Lambton will be tough no matter who they put out on the pitch. They have a lot of depth amongst their squad.”
The Eagles will be without many of their key starting players which includes Aaron Oppedisano, Flynn Goodman and Ben Conway who are all away. They also may miss their star striker Ryan Feutz through injury.
But McGuinness is confident that whoever takes the pitch in red and black has what it takes to get the job done.
“We will have to assess some of the boys who copped knocks from the mid-week match against Charlestown to see if they are right to play,” McGuinness said.
“It is important to utilize the depth of our squad and give some players who don’t always get it, the opportunity to play some big minutes.
“It would have been ideal if we had a full squad to select from. But I have full confidence in every player that will take the field for us.”
Lambton Jaffas will also be without some of their most influential players, with most if not all of their starting 11 ruled out due to a group trip away.
But coach David Tanchevski is excited to give some of his younger and less experienced players the opportunity to step up and take part in a high-pressure first grade game.
“We will probably be without our main starting 11 this weekend,” Tanchevski said.
“But we will have players that need minutes and younger players will get some opportunities to get some first grade minutes.
“It is really important that we get to see some of our players come up into first grade.
“It will help to give those boys a bit of confidence to take on that responsibility.
“It is really exciting for these boys to go out there, see what they can do and prove themselves.”
Tanchevski said that the aim of winning the Cup remains the same despite the change of personnel and believes that their squad can rise to the occasion.
“For the club, we like to win everything that we compete in,” Tanchevski said.
“It will be like a grand final to these boys and I think that the can step up to the challenge.
“Hopefully the boys can go out there and get a result and take on any pressure that comes their way. Every player is ready to give it a crack and fight it out.”
Following the NNSWF Men’s State Cup, the Men’s Community Plate will take place, kicking off at 12pm.
The Men’s Community Plate has been introduced to provide the highest-placed community teams with the opportunity to be crowned the best community team in northern NSW.
The Community Plate final will see Zone League Two side Newcastle Croatia FC take on Northern Inland Premier League club Inverell FC in the Plate play-off.
