TWIN City will be a dark horse for the AWFA Cup coach Harry Wilhelm says, declaring that none of the teams in contention phase the Wanderers.
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Coming up against Wangaratta on Sunday, Wilhelm said there was no pressure on his side after finishing the regular season with momentum.
“We had an ideal recovery period leading into the cup with last weekend off, and our form against Wangaratta has been good this season,” he said.
“We ruined their league championship party a few weeks ago, so I'm sure they'll have a sting in their tail.
“In reality the pressure is all on them, we haven't had a whole lot of expectations on us since the start of the year, we we can probably enjoy it a bit more.”
Josh Zito headlines a number of inclusions for Twin City, who look set to have a full strength line-up after missing some key contributors last time the two sides met.
Wangaratta coach Mario Antonello acknowledged Twin City's recent record over his side, knowing the Wanderers would be full of confidence.
“They've played well against us this season, and certainly last time we played they caught us off-guard a little bit,” Antonello said.
“The don't really play a heavy possession brand of football, they like to move it forward as quickly as we can.”
While Twin City were a dangerous prospect, the Wangaratta coach said they would still have to show his side plenty of respect to progress to the semi-finals.
“We know we can run games out really well, I'm pretty happy with our fitness levels,” Antonello said.
“There's a few x-factor players on our list who can turn a game on its head within 10 minutes as well.
“It's a cut-throat time of year and you can't leave anything to chance.”
It's shaping up to be a decisive game for the Cup, with both Twin City and Wangaratta registering wins over their potential semi-final opponents, either Boomers or Twin City.
In other matches this weekend, Myrtleford and Albury City are set to play out an interesting clash, with the Savoys needing to snap a three-game winless streak to progress.
Boomers have to rebound from last Sunday's loss against the Diamonds, while Albury United face Melrose.
In the women's league, Wangaratta tackle champions Albury City, Boomers face Myrtleford, Melrose come up against St Pats and the Wodonga Diamonds do battle with Albury United.
The pressure is all on them. We can enjoy the game, but they're expected to win the whole thing.
- Harry Wilhelm