TAREE Wildcats will come up against a familiar face in goals tomorrow in the Coastal Premier League football clash against Port Saints in Port Macquarie.
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Curtis Jones had been the final line of defence for the Wildcats for the past three seasons. Taree coach Ben Sedlen rates Jones the best keeper in the competition.
However, unfortunately for the Wildcats, Jones has switched to the Saints for this season, although Sedlen said there's no ill-feeling.
"Curtis is living up there, so it's understandable he'd be playing with one of the Port clubs,'' Sedlen said.
Sedlen expects a torrid start to the season for his squad. He said Port Saints should be among the leading contenders for major honours this year.
"They've got Curtis, Roan Whiteman's still up there, they were one of the better teams last year, so I'd expect them to be strong again this season,'' Sedlen said.
A former Wallis Lake player, Whiteman was regularly among the leading goal scorers in the former Mid North Coast Premier League. He linked with Saints last season.
"And we're going to be underdone because we haven't been able to train. I know it's been raining everywhere, but I think Port may have access to more indoor facilities than we do, because it's a bigger town,'' Sedlen pointed out.
Sedlen said this is similar to the problem the Wildcats had in 2020 when the club received an 11th hour entry into the Coastal Premier League. This was finalised a fortnight before the competition was due to start.
"It's deja vu,'' he said.
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The Cats resumed training on Tuesday night for the first time in a month due to rain and closed fields. They also played an FFA Cup game last night against Camden Haven at Laurieton - the club's first hit out for the year, although Sedlen said the side was a mixture of first and reserve graders due to a number of unavailable players. The game was originally to be played a month ago, but fell foul of the wet weather.
Sedlen said a former Tinonee player Evan Martin had looked sharp in early season training sessions and is keen to step up into the CPL this year.
"James Goldsmith missed just about all of last year with a knee injury, so having him back will be good for us,'' he said.
Goldsmith is sharing the coaching responsibilities with Sedlen and Michael Wallace and Sedlen said the system is working well.
Sedlen completed a suspension last night and will be available for tomorrow's game.
"I'll play where and if I'm needed,'' he said.
