THE growing confidence of the Horsham Saints will be put to the test against Minyip-Murtoa on Saturday.
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Round 14 saw the side register its first win against a fellow finals contender when it downed Stawell.
Saints coach Luke Fisher said what the side did at Central Park will count for little if it does not play the same way against the Burras.
“Confidence is certainly on the rise, and regardless of the result we want to be playing a certain way on Saturday,” he said. “I expect Minyip-Murtoa will have the same approach; at this point it is about consolidating form.”
The Saints have struggled to score against the top sides this season but had a variety of scoring options against the Warriors.
Mitch Martin worked hard to get into good positions to kick five goals in his eleventh senior game while Jacob O’Beirne and Jacob Cooke-Harrison each bobbed up for three goals.
“Jake McIntyre is also working into some good form down forward and we expect to have Jarred Combe back in as well,” he said.
“It’s also about out midfielders contributing when they are resting forward.”
Fisher said the side’s round 10 loss to the Burras was one of the side’s worst for the season.
“We won’t read too much into the previous results though,” he said. “The midfield battle will be key. Sam Clyne is a real leader for us at each contest each week, we need to spread the load to support him.”
Minyip-Murtoa coach Damian Cameron has also noticed the improved form of the Saints. “I certainly don’t expect the match to be as simple as the past two times we’ve played them,” he said.
“It will be a different team we come up against this time and they’ll have that little bit more motivation because of those losses.”
The Burras will also have extra motivation. A win on Saturday will secure the club’s second minor premiership in a row.
“We’ve had a good past month knocking off other premiership contenders and it was a really strong team performance last week against Dimboola,” Cameron said.
The defensive strengths of each side will be critical at Minyip. Cameron said the game will be won by the side with the forward line that performs best.
It has been Jae McGrath and Brayden Ison who have led the way for the Burras in recent rounds.
“It’s hasn’t just been there kicking but its there work rate up and down to get into good spots,” Cameron said.
“We’ve also got a pretty good mix of talls and smalls in there at the moment.”
The Burras will miss Pat Purcell and Luke Mulquiny while Tom Delahunty will to look to continue building form in the side’s reserves.