The Weston Bears will be sweating on the fitness of key players before naming their squad for Sunday’s Northern NSW National Premier League major semi-final.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Bears are due to tackle minor premiers the Newcastle Jets Youth for the second time in a month at Rockwell Automation Park but injuries will force coach Steve Piggott to utilise all of his 18-man squad.
Defender Liam Thornton (hamstring), goalkeeper Tim Pratt (quad) and Zac Snedden (quad) didn’t train on Wednesday night and were treated by the club physiotherapist, while midfielder Robbie Turnbull (quad) still remains in doubt after missing last week’s 3-2 qualifying semi-final win against Lambton.
Piggott said he would assess the damage after the Bears gathered on Friday for a final hit out.
“I’m not confident we will get all of them, but I’m confident we will get a few of them back,” Piggott said.
“It’s not ideal and the preference would have been for everybody to be fit, but that’s football and we will decide on Friday who will play and who won’t.”
On the up side, Nathan Morris, who played his 200th first grade game for the club earlier this season, and last week’s opening goal scorer Jye McKellar both made it through training unscathed on Wednesday despite carrying niggles from the weekend.
Bears striker Jamie Subat returns following a week’s suspension, while Jason Cowburn and Gary McDermott will need to be on their best behaviour after they received yellow cards last start.
Regardless of who takes the field, the Bears will need to defeat the Jets for the first time this season if they are to book the first spot in this year’s NPL grand final.
A 1-all result in the final minor premiership deciding round was a much improved performance from the 5-2 loss on May 17.
“We will take a lot of confidence from taking to the Jets and hanging on for so long,” Piggott said.
“That was valuable experience from a major game and while we haven’t beaten them this year the performance was extremely good last time.”
In the minor semi-final, Lambton host Charlestown City at Arthur Edden Oval on Saturday.
Both matches kick off at 3pm.
The Bears also have their under 19s in action this weekend, with a minor semi-final showing against Hamilton at Lambton on Saturday (11am).
In other football news, Adamstown Rosebud and the Under-18 Emerging Jets will lock horns at Adamstown Oval on Saturday in the 2014 Women’s Premier League decider (2pm).
