The Blighty Redeyes host the Rennie Hoppers at the Blighty Recreation Reserve in round 14 of the Picola League football and netball tomorrow.
Blighty’s seniors are keen for the opportunity, taking on a team with a similar year of results to their own.
Both teams have been competitive throughout the year, with only two games separating Rennie in 13th and Blighty in 14th on the ladder.
Rennie got their first win three weeks ago in round 11 by eight points against Katunga, and their second win of the year by 68 points against Mathoura last round.
Blighty remain winless, but their determination is growing each week.
In last weekend’s game against Katunga, Blighty were in the match throughout the game.
They were only down by 20 points at three-quarter time, and ultimately lost by 30 - 7.3 (45) to 11.9 (75).
Head coach Dane Leyden said while the team is not happy with the loss, they implemented some tactical shifts in their line-up which saw some rewards.
He said that may help the side get a win in the near future.
“We made some structural or positional changes which worked.
“One of our boys (Jordan Priestley) kicked five goals. He has been down back most of the year, which was a nice switch.
“Overall, the boys are getting hungrier and hungrier, which is good. You can see that on the field.
“Our aim is just to keep playing four quarters of football. We can’t get much closer than that with what we did on the weekend.
“Even though we didn’t kick one in the last quarter, it was a real scrap.
“While the result is disappointing, the performance has been based on effort, and we can feel a win coming.”
Leyden said he believes the team has the players to win their individual match-ups, but he said how the team positions itself goes a long way to deciding the result.
“You do try to gauge how different sides are going throughout the season.
“In this league, there might be some big ins randomly, but regardless, we’ll absolutely try to be disciplined defensively.
“The good teams have been way too slick against us with their ball movement, and we haven’t manned up the middle of the ground as well as we can.
“We’ll try to do that this week so we don’t get cut up through the middle.
“As usual, I have no doubt that our endeavour and effort will be there.
“It’s what we base our footy on, but we’ve got to just try to play a bit smarter this week.
“We really want to try to trust our teammates to go win it at the contest, so we can get it on the outside.
“I think we’re quite a strong one-on-one side, but sometimes we get carried away with all going to contest the ball rather than trusting our teammates to win it.
“Hopefully, we will play one-on-one this weekend, and give ourselves a chance.”
Off the field, things are going well at the Blighty Football Netball Club.
The annual ball last week provided a chance to come together and celebrate as a club, and it’s hoped this will be carried into performances on the field in the coming weeks.
“Actually, it was really good.
“There were a few new faces to me, which, I think, is a good sign, and there was a good feeling around the event.
“People were saying to me that it was one of the best balls that the club has had in years.
“Everyone was friendly and there was no drama, which was good.
“Hopefully, we can continue that, and it is a sign of things to come.”