TAREE coach Rob Bartley agrees his side ‘owes Camden Haven one’ going into tomorrow’s Football Mid North Coast Premier League clash at Laurieton.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In the second round game late last season the Redbacks, then battling to avoid the wooden spoon, held Taree to a 2-2 draw at Laurieton. This was a costly result for the Wildcats as a win would have sealed third spot.
Taree eventually finished fourth on goal averages and tackled Wallis Lake in the elimination match. They were Lake’s first victims in the Forster-Tuncurry outfit’s charge to a grand final win from fifth spot.
“If we’d won that game at Laurieton as we expected, we would have avoided the elimination game, and who knows what might have happened,’’ Bartley said.
Bartley agrees that the 2017 result has no bearing on tomorrow’s game. However, he added it’s a timely reminder for the Wildcats not to get complacent.
Taree goes into the match in third spot on averages. Camden Haven are sixth but have lost three straight including a last start 7-0 hammering by Port Saints.
Bartley said the Wildcats played some good football when accounting for Kempsey Saints in the game before the long weekend break.
“We’re sitting okay at the minute,’’ Bartley said.
“But I would expect Camden Haven to come at us hard – they’ll be keen to get back into stride after losing 7-0.’’
Taree’s two first round losses were against competition heavyweights Wallis Lake and Macleay Valley and Bartley admits his players were embarrassed after the defeat by Wallis.
The Wildcats expect to be at full strength for tomorrow. Bartley will then assess his side before naming a team to play Port United in a deferred game at Port Macquarie next Tuesday night.
“I doubt everyone who plays on Saturday will be right for Tuesday because of injury, age or recovery,’’ he said.
“Obviously United’s going to be difficult, but we’ll pick a side and see what they throw at us.’’
In other premier league games tomorrow Kempsey Saints will meet Macleay Valley at Eden Street, Kempsey. Macleay sits in second place with Saints fourth in what is a tightly bunched competition ladder.
Tuncurry-Forster, fresh from a morale boosting 5-0 result over Wauchope, will be at home to a Port United side now free of FFA Cup commitments. United’s cup campaign ended last weekend when thumped by Northern NSW heavyweights Lambton Jaffas 8-0.
