EAGLES WON’T TAKE WARRIORS LIGHTLY
THE Nerang Eagles are looking at tomorrow’s night game against Southport knowing the importance of backing up their performance last week against Palm Beach with another victory.
With the second half against Kingscliff a few weeks ago well behind them, the attention now turns to a Warriors team who under Steve Macdonald have proved difficult to break down and beat in the early stages of the season.
Eagles coach Lee Vernon said that Southport’s recent run of form is something his side needs to be wary of.
“They are coming off a couple of great results in recent weeks. With the mix of Coomera players throughout the team and not losing anyone from last year they are always a strong opponent,” said Vernon.
“The importance of this game is simple. We can go to outright second with a win or drop right back in the pack if it doesn’t go our way.”
The Warriors will have one more match without Macdonald on the sidelines, however the suspended coach said his side has done well performance-wise since his suspension.
“We needed to tweak things in the past couple of weeks but the boys have done a fantastic job in getting the points we need,” he said. “Overall-performance-wise is not where we want it to be but it was crucial to back up the Surfers point with a win against Broadbeach.”
With Vernon now having time to settle in, Macdonald expects a tough Eagles outfit on Thursday night.
“Lee has had time to adjust to Nerang and they are much different than last year. Their win against Palm Beach was big and you can see they are heading in the right direction, so we need to be careful on the dangers they pose,” Macdonald said.
The game has been moved from the original scheduled time, with Southport travelling up to Lions FC on Sunday afternoon in Round 5 of the FFA Cup.
Most of the Premier League sides are still waiting to see what the schedule looks like for the weekend, with other FFA Cup results midweek crucial to see what games can be played heading into the long weekend.
Most notably, the Anzac Day clash between Broadbeach and Palm Beach would have to be postponed if Palm Beach defeated Magic to progress last night.