Searching for seven
Marist’s equation for Central League promotion is simple, but far from easy.
They need to beat Northern Wellington by seven goals in the return leg of their qualification tie at the Central Energy Trust Arena today to go up.
It’s an almost impossible task, but if they were to take an early lead on football’s return to Palmerston North’s premier sporting venue, then Northern Wellington could be in for a difficult time, although it would take a minor miracle for Marist to close the gap.
‘‘If we’re honest, we’ve probably got one chance in 400 million to qualify or go through. The beauty of sport is we’ve got to try,’’ Marist coach Shane Rufer said.
‘‘If we score three goals in the first 20 minutes, hopefully that makes them nervous.
‘‘We want to try our best and show that we’re better than the last game, even though we had four or five really good chances to score.’’
Last week’s 6-0 away loss was a kick in the guts for the men in green-and-white after their unbeaten run in the Federation League. But there was always going to be a step up in class and they’ll have to find a way to match that, and make sure they don’t waste their chances on goal.
Bad weather meant their training was cancelled on Tuesday and on Thursday night they had a session indoors at the Arena.
This weekend marks the sport’s return there after a lengthy absence since the Wellington Phoenix took on Sydney FC in a windswept A-league game in 2009. The Phoenix are back today as well, playing Napier City Rovers in a pre-season match at 12pm.
Rufer remembers Youngheart Manawatu¯ playing on the oval in their national league glory days, including when thousands showed up to watch an Oceania qualification game against Auckland City.
Of the Marist team, only stalwart Adam Cowan, 37, has played there.
‘‘We want to show our true colours and we are hoping that there will be a quite a nice turnout. It’s a good stadium to play at,’’ Rufer said.
Marist: Robbie Yule (captain), Lee Rufer (vice-captain), Troy Aitken, Adam Cowan, Max Hopf, Jordan Joblin-hall, Jamie Lambe, Taylor Monk, Luke Palfreyman, Rhys Janes, Sam Jones, Raydon Semmens, Josh Sanson, Michael Sheridan, Josh Tremens, Ludwig Zeoula.