Courtesy: Otago Daily Times


Key is not to become complacent

Thursday, 8 December 2016

by Jeff Cheshire

This is it for the Southern United futsal team.
It enters its final tournament of the year in Auckland tomorrow a clear six points atop the national futsal league table and favourite to claim the crown.

The side has four league games left, before finishing the weekend with a semifinal and final, should it advance that far, on Sunday.

The format last year tripped up the previously unbeaten Wellington team, which fell to Southern in the semifinal. Southern will be keen to avoid that, although it is wary about looking too far ahead.

"I mean the trick is not to get complacent," captain Sean McIntee said.

"It doesn’t matter whether we qualify with games to go, it’ll just be a case of getting through the rotations a bit more, maybe giving people a bit more game time. But I don’t think we’ll be giving anyone a game off. I think just trying to keep the touch right and to keep you in the mindset of playing good futsal."

It has been nearly a month since the team last played, when it won three games and drew its fourth. Despite that it had been keeping busy, training as normal and holding a camp over a weekend so the Queenstown-based players could attend.

"It’s just keeping that harmony going. Making sure we peak at the right time, building into the last few games, keep momentum going, qualify for the semis and then go from there."

With a record of eight wins, one draw and one loss, the team is in a good position and was successful against its league opponents for this weekend in their last outing. However, while the players were happy with their situation, they were not getting ahead of themselves.

"We’re just taking it one game at a time, not taking anyone lightly.

"The way the results have gone it’s been quite mixed, people have been beating each other. There’s been some surprise results, the rest of the table’s quite even, so we’re not taking anyone lightly."

Goalkeeper Daniel Bocatias will return to the side, having missed the previous tournament after suffering a knee injury. He will give it a boost, as will Southern United men’s player Ben O’Farrell.

While the teams often were an unknown quantity, due to players not always committing to every round, changes this year mean there will be no surprises. Players now had to have played in at least one tournament this season to turn out this weekend, meaning Southern should know what it is up against.

The team will play two games tomorrow and Saturday, with a possibility for a further two on Sunday. It will begin its weekend at noon tomorrow against Auckland. The final is scheduled for 10.45am on Sunday.



Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com