It couldn't have worked out better for this finals series as the two run away clubs now have the chance to battle for the holy grail and the big winners cup. Also bragging rights to be crowned the finals champion.
Its always been about winning the league but the finals series is also starting to become a big thing as well.
Somerset host the game again for the second year strait and will be full of confidence going into this game.
Nigel Brown said this"Somerset Sharks are eagerly awaiting our opportunity to take another bite at Riverside Olympic. There has been a lot of discussion about how Olympic should have been premiers as they went through the season undefeated, however facts show that we won more games, therefore earned more points, and the team with the most points wins.
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There will
be no excuses this week, both teams no doubt will have forced changes due to
player unavailability, however both clubs have good depth and I'm sure they
will bring a more than competitive and hungry side down to Shark Park.
The Sharks
will be missing only two players from their normal squad, but they are big
losses. 2013 George Dale winner, Kaimon Johnson is out until 2016 after having
a shoulder reconstruction prior to the Burnie game 2 weeks ago. Our captain and
midfield general, Keegan Wells, has work commitments which he cannot avoid, and
indeed had last weeks game been on the Saturday, he would have had to miss that
one.
We welcome
back the experienced Garry Hamilton and I imagine that youngster Matty Jordan
should hold his spot after a great debut last Sunday. Matty turned 16 on the
Saturday prior and was promoted straight into the first eleven where, after the
usual settling in period, really played well and managed to grab 2 goals for
himself at the same time.
We have
injury worries with Astyn Johnson and Elliot Stewart both coming off early last
week, however I believe they will both be right for Saturday's clash.
No doubt we
will play this game no different to all the others over the past 2 years,that
is to settle into a fast and strong passing game with emphasis on attack and
scoring more goals that the opposition. It was noticable last week that the
main difference between us and Rangers was their inability to score goals,
Olympic have a reasonable forward line and no doubt will test the pace of our
defensive line. However we now boast a four prong scoring attack with Johnson,
Nettleton, Smith and Jordan all capable of scoring multiple times.
I am hoping
to see a high scoring, free flowing final, something like 6-3. Plenty to
entertain the crowd and ensure a memorable match for all concerned and a great
reward for a club that has worked its butt off for the past two years to
rebuild itself.
On the other hand Riverside will be out for redemption after leading the pack only to have the title swept from under their feet in the last round.
Coach Wayne Penfold said this"There are a couple of little
niggles after the Semi Final clash with Devonport, but otherwise the squad
won’t change from that game.
Somerset are the Champions so
they are obviously a very good side. They haven’t conceded a lot of goals, but
have scored plenty. In the two contests we had with them this year though we
had a win and a draw, each time with only 10 men. Other teams seemed to
struggle against Somerset, but certainly gave us a run for our money on a few
occasions. I'm not sure if it’s because we match up well against Somerset and didn't hold any fear going into those contests or what it is, but we were the oThere has been a great rivalry between the two
clubs this year as we separated ourselves from the rest of the pack very early
in the season. This made it a two horse race and provided a great finish to the
NPL season. We weren’t quite good enough to take the title off their hands and
they have
The Final is an opportunity for
us to get some reward for the season we have had. It wouldn’t be a common
occurrence that a team that finishes the season undefeated misses out on a
title. That in itself is motivation to play well. Like I previously stated
though, we aren’t intimidated by Somerset and we will go into the game looking
to take the contest to them and try to play the good brand of football that we
have shown all season. Possession football is what we are about and we will not
change our approach for this game. I think there are some areas in Somerset’s
play that we can take advantage of and if we can execute those then we will get
the result that we want.
It would obviously mean a lot
for the players and myself to win the Final. We will have a bus load of
supporters down to watch the game so we will want to give them something to
cheer about at the final whistle also. The title was the main focus for the
year and we fell just short, so we really want to take out the Finals
series.
If we can play to our strengths
and maintain possession of the ball and take our chances in front of goal then
that will be key to our success. We have been creating plenty of chances but
not capitalising on them. Somerset have proven to be a good defensive side, so
if we have limited chances, we need to be clinical and put them away. Limiting
the opportunities for Somerset’s lethal strikers will also be critical. They
have scored close to 100 goals this season which is a huge tally so we need to
be very tight defensively.
The same squad will turn out for
the match on Saturday. The final line-up won’t be decided upon until our final
training session or on the morning of Saturday.
This will be a great game and are expecting a large crowd
SHARK PARK 2PM SATURDAY
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