LAST round’s 46-40 victory over BNC Whanau has put Maryville Tavern Alize into the driver’s seat when it comes to finals hopes in the Greater Open Championship, but another roadblock now faces the squad.
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Despite their defeat in the 2017 grand final, Souths Lions still remain shrouded in much of their ‘three-peat’ mystique, and Maryville will be looking to shatter that come Saturday afternoon.
Souths aren’t the easiest nut to crack, but club captain Rachel Gardner has every confidence in the club’s playing roster, despite a number of injuries the season has already coughed up.
“We’ve been playing with just one bench player in the last few weeks, which gives us limited options, but we’re on our way to full strength,” Gardner said. “We are going to keep improving, and we’re quite optimistic about how we’ve been going so far.”
Gardner believes the team’s strength lies in its current “dark-horse” status, with teams not giving much notice to the team despite their third place standing heading into the fifth round.
“We’re very fortunate to have a lot of experience in our team to draw upon, with a core group of representative girls in the squad,” Maryville’s captain said. “We always walk onto the court thinking that we can win the game ahead.”
“That being said, it’s Souths and any weaknesses that we have on the day can be exploited by them – we have to be on our A game, but we definitely have the capacity to beat them.
“We don’t have the best record so far this year but that’s a lot to do with close matches early on, the season so far has been a bit disappointing but in the last two weeks we showed the kind of play that we’re capable of. It’s about getting that consistency, and if we can do that we’ll do very well in the season.”
Gardner’s confidence comes despite a number of key injuries that have already arisen within the Maryville Tavern squad, including Emma Veness (achilles) and wing defence Lexi Petersen, the later of whom is marked to return this round.
The team’s captain also praised Emily Leto’s “strong presence under the post” after her shift from keeper into a goal shooter role to cover spaces in the squad, as well as young players Erin Asquith and Kirsty-Lee Jones, both of whom have “proven themselves in the opening rounds as strong parts of the team”.
Earlier in the 2.30pm time-slot, West Leagues Balance 2 will face Nova Thunder, while Forsythes look to string three wins together against the so-far undefeated West Leagues Balance 1.
In the other 3.45pm fixture, Souths Pride will come up against a BNC Whanau outfit looking to bounce back after their 6-goal defeat in the fourth round.
TABLE: Wests 1 (16), Souths Lions (14), Maryville Tavern (12), Nova Thunder (12), BNC Whanau (12), Nova Thunder (12), Wests 2 (10) Souths Pride (8).