Dolphins’ showdown
Three wins or bust for finals
STRATFORD are the masters of their own FNQ Premier League destiny as they start a series of must-win games to qualify for the finals.
The equation is simple for the Dolphins: win all three remaining games, and there’s a chance to make the top four. Lose or draw, and it’s season over.
Stratford have fallen well short of where many expected the side to be, but coach Rob Wales believes in his men.
“The best part of it is that it is totally in our hands,” Wales said.
“These last few games, they’re against teams we can beat. We’ve got Southside this week, there’s a tough game against Edge Hill, then we have Innisfail in the last round.
“There’s nothing we can do about any other team. We’re still pretty positive but we’ve been without some strong players for a lot of the season.”
Wales came in as coach this year and the northside club recruited strongly, jagging the likes of Davit Davitadze, Bronson Koppen, Chris Sullivan, Kyle Nichol and Blake Semp to complement the likes of Josiah Rusch and captain Josh Purton.
Injuries have wreaked havoc with Wales’ men – many of those recruits have spent time on the sideline nursing one issue or another. But Stratford, who have limped to just two wins and two draws and sit second-last on the ladder, were expected to challenge Edge Hill United for the championship.
On Sunday, they travel to Walker Road to face Southside Comets, who are two points clear in fifth but face a similar must-win scenario to challenge for a place in the top four.
Against Mareeba United last week, Stratford battled back from a two-goal deficit to sit level with the Bulls late in the contest before a Damian Avolio strike sent those three valuable competition points over the range.
The result didn’t go Stratford’s way on that day, but it’s the kind of fight Wales wants to see from his men at Edmonton on Sunday evening.
“If we can do our job, the pressure goes to those other teams,” Wales said.
“We’ve lost Ben (Courtenay) likely for the season, Ruschy did his hamstring so there’s some concern, but Kyle’s been in some great form since coming back for us.”
Sunday’s game kicks off at 5pm.