TATYOON will head into round 11 of the Mininera and District Football League as favourites as it takes on Ararat Eagles.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Ararat Eagles have been held winless for the opening half of the season, but are hoping their positive attitude will see them upset a team in the not so distant future.
Both Tatyoon coach Adrian Pilgrim and Ararat coach Brian Jenkins said it would be a difficult match, although for different reasons.
Tatyoon’s biggest challenge at the weekend will be sticking to what it knows works.
The hawks are one of the in form teams of the competition and have been able to blow sides away in recent weeks.
“We just want to play our style of football,” Pilgrim said.
“We need to bring the right work ethic and intensity and continue to play well. We don’t want to let bad habits creep into our game just because.”
The Hawks have been able to use their foot skills to maintain possession and build strong passages of play.
“Our strategy is fairly basic,” Pilgrim said.
“We just try to win the ball and when we do we look after it. If we have a shot on goal or turn it over we try and lock it in.”
The Hawks have been able to kick many goals and have had a variety of goal scorers.
It makes Tatyoon hard to defend for opposition sides.
“We have a really even spread which is great,” Pilgrim said.
“We don’t rely on one or two players. Because of that we are not as predictable as other teams may be.”
Tatyoon is nearing in on a full strength side, but currently have six players injured or unavailable.
Zac Louder will miss tomorrow’s match due to a concussion sustained is round 10 and Tim McDougal was forced to pass a fitness test.
Ararat Eagles will also make changes with young gun Fred Stokes making his way back into the line-up.
The Eagles will have their work cut out against Tatyoon.
Jenkins is trying to remain positive, but isn't expecting too much from his young side.
“We just try to find positives from every game we play,” he said.
“There is no point dwelling on the negatives.”
The Eagles will try to load their backline in order to limit Tatyoon’s scoring ability on Saturday.
“It doesn’t get any easier for us moving forward,” Jenkins said.
“We just want to make sure we keep having a go. It is all about effort for us not the scores.”
David Reynolds and Charlie Cartwright will umpire the match.
The game starts at 2pm.