THE first match of Western NSW Mariners’ Men’s State League 1 season may not have played out as they would have liked on Saturday evening, but tonight they are intent on springing a Waratah Cup upset.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Mariners will be attempting to hit back from a 4-0 loss to Granville Rage at Garside Park by downing the Northern Tigers at Proctor Park.
The Waratah Cup is an annual state-wide competition open to all Football NSW member clubs and associations. It is run on a seeded basis.
Tonight’s match is actually the third round of the Waratah Cup competition, the seedings meaning Western NSW and the Northern Tigers have advanced to this stage without playing a game.
The Tigers will start as favourites, but Western coach Andrew Fearnley is hoping the late 7.30pm start on home soil will help his players spring an upset.
“They are seeded higher than us because they play above us in NPL 2. The beauty of this competition is that you get to play those teams you don’t normally meet in your own competition,” Fearnley said.
“It is a good way to test yourself and we have that giant killing mentality ... last year we managed to beat Canberra Olympic, so hopefully we can do something similar again.”
It will be a quick turnaround for Western, who began their new campaign with a loss to Rage on Saturday night. While the 4-0 scoreline may suggest it was a one-sided affair, Fearnley’s outfit were by no means completely outclassed.
“It doesn’t look good to read 4-0, but it really wasn’t an indication of the way we played,” Fearnley said.
“They were certainly more clinical in front of goal than us and that was the main difference.
“At half-time we were in it, but they scored probably 10 minutes after half-time.
“We then had a goal disallowed and we had a one-on-one which we didn’t convert, and after that they scored two goals in quick succession. So in a short period of time it went from being close to not very close at all.”
Positional changes at half-time helped Rage to open their account, captain Almir Dizdaric finding the mark with a header in the 60th minute.
When Stuart Bromley found the back of the net for the visitors, Western thought they were back on level terms at 1-all, but his strike did not count due to an offside ruling.
Dizdaric went on to score a second goal for Rage, while substitute Nenos Bobo also finished with a double.”
“The last goal they got was basically on the counter, we had pushed forward to try and score,” Fearnley said.
“We chanced our hand there trying to get back in the game and it came back to bite us, they punished us there, but you’ve got to try those things.”
GRANVILLE RAGE 4 (Almir Dizdaric 2, Nenos Bobo 2) defeated WESTERN NSW MARINERS FC 0