Friendship forgotten in fight for final place
SWEET victory is already in Innisfail United’s hands but crushing Leichhardt is a frontier the Cutters are still looking to conquer.
The two teams have shared players over the years but all those friendships will be forgotten when they battle for a grand final spot at Walker Road today.
Innisfail United captain Kaila Musumeci said her side was determined to reinforce their premiership title with a win over Leichhardt for the first time in 2017.
“It will be a great match. We’ve lost twice and drawn against them, but we hope to get a win this time,” she said.
“We need to prove we were worthy of the premiership.”
Musumeci said rival captain and former teammate Stacey Jones, who spent four years coming through the US college system, was going to be a target for the match.
“She knows how to play the ball well and has got a great eye for options,” Musumeci said. “She can do basically everything.”
Jones said she was happy to shoulder the load of rival pressure if that meant more space for her dangerous teammates, including Natalie Fichera and Ria Collie.
“I’ve had a pretty good season so far, but we have a couple of good playmakers,” she said.
“We’ve got a very good, strong team this year and we’ve only been getting better.”
Leichhardt will miss leading goal scorer Madison Cater due to work commitments next weekend but she should return for the last two weeks of finals.
Jones said she felt Edge Hill would have the upper hand in the elimination final battle against Southside at Stratford tomorrow and would be a formidable opponent for the loser of today’s game.