Men’s State Cup Final
Maitland FC v Weston Bears
Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility - 3, Saturday 6pm
Weston Bears head coach Damian Zane believes Saturday's Northern NSW Men's State Cup final against rivals Maitland FC at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility will highlight how far both sides have progressed, with silverware on the line.
Saturday's clash shapes as a fascinating contest, with the sides entering in strong league form and neither club having previously lifted the NNSW Men's State Cup in its current format.
Maitland and Weston saw their Hahn Australia Cup round of 16 dreams come to an end last weekend, although in vastly different circumstances.
The Magpies suffered late heartbreak at home, conceding twice in the space of two minutes to fall to Fremantle City FC. While Weston fell short 3-0 to Melbourne City after pushing them all the way to the end.
The defeat snapped Maitland’s six-match winning streak, a run that had propelled them up the NPL Men's NNSW table over the past month.
The loss was compounded as the short turnaround saw Maitland go down in similarly heartbreaking circumstances at home, losing 1-0 last Saturday to defending champions Broadmeadow Magic, with several chances at the death going untaken.
Despite the setback, head coach Adam Hughes could take similar lessons from both games, especially with the Men’s State Cup game kickstarting a busy August with several catch-up fixtures set to be played on top of the final two rounds of NPL NNSW action.
The chance to lock down some silverware will also serve as a valuable opportunity for the Magpies to rediscover their mental edge.
“I feel the way we ran through the game [against Broadmeadow], it was evident that the capacities are there,” Hughes said.
“It's finding those moments, just having the belief in themselves and being confident in their own abilities. That's what we'll work on.
“It's just a bit of mentality stuff within the group. It's the fight, everything's there. The football's there. How do we get them right psychologically?
“We've got the State Cup [against Weston] and hopefully we can win our next few matches and go into finals football as well.
“We want to play as many games as we can and go as far as we can.”
Weston will be in a similar place to the Magpies, coming off their round of 32 Hahn Australia Cup clash that saw them go down 3-0 to Melbourne City at home on Sunday.
A 1,500-strong crowd at Hunter City Motor Group Stadium saw a tense affair; after City took an early lead, the Bears pushed the A-League side all the way until the 80th minute, the visitors icing the result with two goals in the final ten minutes as the hosts ran out of steam.
It was a disappointing end to what had been a July that saw the Bears return to their best, coming into the fixture with three consecutive victories over Lambton Jaffas, Charlestown Azzurri and Kahibah FC.
But Zane believes the Melbourne City result shows the potential his side has and with the chance to claim some silverware this weekend for the first time in a long time, the Bears head coach expects this weekend to showcase the best of football in the coalfields.
“Any performance that resembles that [against Melbourne] will be enough to get us a trophy or two this year,” Zane added.
“I can't say we had too many players that I felt got affected by nerves. It was actually a good sign last week. We're just looking to build momentum; we feel like we've got a bit going at the moment.
“This is the first chance to win a trophy, and we want to put our best foot forward and do so. I think I was still playing when Weston last won a trophy.
“I actually talked to Hughesy; we're [both] not from the coalfields. We understand who we're coaching; we'll be just looking to dominate with our football.
“We've had two really good games against them [this year].
“It shows the two clubs how far they've come. I'm probably looking back 10 years; both teams were going through rebuilds. Now you've got both teams up the top from the coalfields, fighting for trophies.
“It's changed a lot in those 10 years; it’s a credit both on-and-off the field to the clubs.
“[This State Cup is] a game to showcase how far they've come and they hate each other, so they'll both be trying to outdo each other.”
Before the Men’s State Cup Final, the Men’s Community Plate will take place, kicking off at 3pm.
The Men’s Community Plate was 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 One side Warners Bay FC take on Football Far North Coast Championship League club Pottsville Beach FC in the PLate play-off.