Kahibah FC v Toronto Awaba FC
Kahibah Oval, Sunday 2:30pm
Kahibah FC coach Mat Moncrieff says his side are not at panic stations as they head into the second leg of the promotion/relegation play-off finals series two goals behind Toronto Awaba FC.
The Stags will enter Sunday’s match at Kahibah Oval two goals ahead following a 2-0 victory at Lyall Peacock Oval last Sunday, with goals to Damon Green and Jarrod Purcell.
Kahibah created three clear-cut chances in that clash and felt as though they should have scored at least one of them, but it was not to be. They are now focused on getting the job done this Sunday.
Moncrieff said he had full belief in his players and was confident that they could get the job done, even without one of their main men Riley Ferguson who is suspended after picking up a red card in the first leg.
“The last 15 minutes from last weekend gives me confidence,” Moncrieff said.
“I think Toronto brought their best in that game and we weren’t at our best. Hopefully, we can turn that around and dominate the first half like they did last week, try to get back level on the scoreboard and make it interesting.
“They are a good team, and when they play the way they did last weekend, every team in our competition would struggle against them.
“We’ll create plenty of chances on Sunday. We did last weekend. They’ll come up again this weekend and we have to finish them.
“It’s not panic stations for us, but we just need to make sure we don’t let them score first. We need to start off on the front foot.
“Our ground is in a lot better nick than it was the last time we played there, so hopefully that’s in our favour.
“We’ll need all the luck we can get, giving them a two-goal head start. But we won’t be throwing the towel in, that’s for sure.”
Last Sunday’s victory was the performance and result that the Stags needed after they finished the season on a three-game winless run.
They controlled the majority of the game and were the better team for at least 75 minutes as they secured a two-goal advantage to take into the second leg.
Toronto coach Jarrad Hiles was aware that Kahibah would come out firing on all cylinders this weekend and expected that whoever replaced Ferguson would pose a similar threat.
“We’ll have a pretty similar team, and reserve grade are out now so we will have a fresh bench for the first time all year. I envisage we will put out the same starting line-up,” Hiles said.
“It’s a shame for Kahibah that they won’t have Riley Ferguson because he’s a good player, but they brought on some guys late [last Sunday] that gave them some energy and they have a large squad, so they will have someone come in and take on that role.
“Mat will have a plan and they will throw everything at us this weekend.
“It will be a new challenge for us but we’ll be prepared and the boys will be fired up.
“We’ll go in there looking to score goals and put it to bed. We’re not going to sit back and try to just defend. The best way to defend a 2-0 lead is to make it 3-0.”
Adamstown Rosebud v West Wallsend SFC
Adamstown Oval, Friday 7pm
West Wallsend SFC coach Bailey Cox is confident his side can get the job done against Adamstown Rosebud at Adamstown Oval on Friday night and advance to the play-off final.
The two sides will meet in the second leg of the promotion/relegation play-off series after Adamstown were victorious in the first leg of the semi-final at Johnston Park thanks to Dino Fajkovic’s 44th-minute header which lifted the NPL Men’s NNSW outfit to victory.
Each side had plenty of chances but only one found the back of the net. Being more clinical was the key to success for both coaches on Friday night.
West Wallsend expect to have everyone who played last weekend available and they will welcome back Jake Millsteed from injury after he was close to playing on Saturday but pulled out late last week.
Cox believed that not much would need to change from last weekend for his side to get the win on aggregate and advance to the final despite starting a goal down.
“There will be a couple of small tweaks for the second leg,” Cox said.
“We won’t have to do a lot different though. I definitely don’t feel like we have this massive fight ahead of us. I think we’re well in it.
“We just have to start fast and get straight into it from the first whistle.”
Rosebud were hoping for a less chaotic build-up and gameday following the events of last week.
They lost three players through injury outside of the playing field, which included Narveen Richardson at training, Austin Howard in the warm-up prior to the match, and Kaleb Smith while warming up as a substitute during the contest.
Coach Chris Moylan was hopeful at least two of them would be available on Friday night.
But Adamstown will be without Jacob Dundas, whose season is over after he received a two-week suspension for kicking out at Spencer Clarke while the duo were tangled up on the ground following a tackle during the first leg.
Rosebud will hope that they can get themselves across the line and into the final showdown with the help of their home crowd behind them.
