TAREE Wildcats secured fourth place on the Football Mid North Coast Premier League competition ladder with a 5-0 thrashing of Kempsey Saints in the final round game at Omaru Park.
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The Wildcats will now play defending premiers Wallis Lake in the elimination semi-final next Saturday at Omaru.
Taree’s reserve grade also qualified for the playoffs when holding competition front runners Kempsey Saints to a 1-1 draw and now meet Port United in the elimination game next Saturday.
Taree needed points from both matches to claim a berth in the semis. Taree, Port United and Wallis Lake went into the game on 31 points in first grade, with Tuncurry-Forster on 29. The Wildcats had the most difficult last game assignment, with Wallis and Tuncurry-Forster playing the sides at the bottom of the ladder. Had Taree succumbed to Kempsey, Tuncurry-Forster would have grabbed a finals position.
However, Taree responded in the best possible manner, with coach Rod Bartley describing their opening 35 minutes against Saints as ‘special.’
Callum Griffis controlled play to set up the front three. The Wildcats cashed in, scoring three goals to lead 3-0 at halftime.
“We scored first and that always makes a difference,’’ Bartley said.
“From there we settled down and played football.’’
Jackson Witts finished with two goals for Taree while Griffis, Ricky Campbell and Josh Morris all found the back of the net. An eight goal result would have resulted in Taree grabbing third place – a prospect Bartley dismissed before the game.
“If we’d scored a fourth goal in the first half I might have thought about going for the eight,’’ Bartley said.
However, he was concerned that a couple of players could have run into problems with cards while others are carrying niggling injuries. In the end the Wildcats played conservatively, while still adding two goals in the second section.
Griffis was the players’ player while Tim Griffen at the back was also strong. Witts is also running into form at the right time of the season.
Bartley admits Wallis Lake have been a bogey team for the Wildcats in the past two seasons.
“But if we can get over the top of them then look out,’’ he said.
“It’s the perfect way to set up our run into the semis.’’