Park, Spurs chase maximum points

Park United are hoping to reinforce their position as title contenders when they meet Shamrocks in the second round of the Northern Areas Football Association premier league, which kicks off tomorrow.

United are tied for first place with Hotspurs, who take on Fairview Rovers on Sunday, and both teams are itching to return to action as they chase three valuable points in their quest for the top honours.

“As a coaching staff, we will take it game by game,” United head coach Angelo Vos said.

“We will not make too many changes to our setup and most important is to evaluate our games as they come.

“Most of our squad are quite young, and we have a realistic chance of challenging for the title, but we cannot get ahead ourselves as there are still many games ahead and anything can happen.”

Vos said the area they would most be looking to improve was their ruthlessness in front of goal.

He said it would be important to keep up the pressure by picking up maximum points in every game.

Despite some serious injuries to key players, Vos said there was a belief in the squad that anything was possible.

“Goals win games, but defence wins titles. We need to get into the minds of our players and make them believe that it can be done.”

Ramblers and Rangers make a welcome return to premier league action, but will have their work cut out if they are to throw their names into the title contenders’ hat.

At the bottom end of the log, Saints will look to get back to winning ways, but they face an uphill battle to secure a spot in the league for next season.

All games are scheduled to kick off at 3.15pm.

Fixtures

Tomorrow: Shamrocks v Park United (Malabar 1), West Lake v Celtic (Windvogel), Helenvale v Ramblers (Gelvan 1), Rangers v Saints (Gelvan 2)

Sunday: Stardrift v Blackpool (Marock Road), Bloom Callies v Glenville (Finnis 1), Wolves v Fairdene (Malabar 2), Fairview Rovers v Hotspurs (Finnis 2)