IN recent seasons a State League division one finals campaign has been out of reach for the Western NSW Mariners FC, but in 2015 they have a real chance of challenging for higher honours.

However, according to captain Adam Scimone, his side must secure the competition points on offer in tonight’s match against currently-last placed Nepean if they wish to rank in that top five.

With five wins and four draws to their credit after 13 rounds, the Mariners are currently sitting in sixth position. It is much better than where they were at this point in 2014 – second last.

Yet Scimone and his fellow Mariners are not yet content with what they have achieved and finals football is very much their goal. They head into tonight’s contest at Mudgee’s Glen Willow Stadium looking for better reward for their efforts than what they got seven days ago when drawing 2-all with Inter Lions.

“Last weekend was a better performance, it was just disappointing we didn’t get the three points, this week we really need to grab maximum points to start making a push for the top five,” Scimone said.

“We’re only one point out [from the top five] at the moment, but if we want to make a push we have to do it now.”

The Mariners had their chances last week but weren’t clinical enough in front of goal. It hurt them as the Lions fought back from 2-0 down to draw.

Having not recorded a win since the end of May, the Mariners could not have hoped for a more timely fixture against last placed Nepean FC.

However, Scimone conceded there are never easy matches in the State League competition, which was confirmed last weekend when Nepean defeated fifth placed Gladesville.

“Nepean have been struggling this year, but in the second half of the season they’ve picked up some points, so they’re not going to be a push over,” he said.

“I spoke to one of our ex-players at Gladesville and he said they just didn’t show up in a really poor performance, not to take any credit away from Nepean, who scored two and held on for the win.”

“That’s the thing about the competition this year, it doesn’t matter who it is, first or last, they all put in a fight.”

Despite a poor run of results over the past month, Mariners coach Andrew Fearnley was pleased with his side’s performance last Saturday night, noting a change in attitude from previous weeks.

Scimone shared the coach’s sentiment, praising the positive mindset of the team and also the performance of two players in particular.

“Josh Ward played well and settled into the team quickly, hopefully we can get 90 minutes out of him [against Nepean],” he said.

“Kane Hughes has also been good up front and clinical most of the time, so hopefully he can get some more goals. The front three has been playing really well.

“We’re confident heading into the match that we can get the three points.”

Kick off is at 7.30pm tonight.