The Maitland Magpies hopes of playing finals are on the line in Sunday's crucial away game against Hamilton Olympic.
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“It’s our grand final,” Maitland coach Mick Bolch said ahead of the game against his old club.
Victory will give the Magpies a six-point break on Hamilton who loom as Maitland’s chief rival for fourth spot and the final place for play-off action.
“We can still make the finals if we lose, but it will mean such an effort on the playing group that we will be little more than making up the numbers.
“A six point break and our goal difference will give us the breathing space to manage our squad so that we can give the finals a real shot.”
Hamilton moved to fifth place on the Northern NSW NPL table with a 4-1 win over cellar-dwellers Valentine on Wednesday night at Lisle Carr Oval.
Hamilton are on 22 points and ahead of Charlestown on goal difference, plus four to minus seven, with a game in hand on the Blues. They are three points behind fourth-placed Maitland (25 points, +14 goals).
Charlestown’s chances of finals action have been cruelled by injuries, particularly in defence which was exposed with their 3-0 loss to Weston last Sunday.
Bolch has had to contend with a combination of injuries, suspensions and departures as he prepares his squad for the run home which starts with Hamilton and is followed by Edgeworth (first, away), Lake Macquarie (ninth, home), Lambton (second, away) and Broadmeadow (third, home).
Hamilton’s run home after the Maitland clash is Lake Macquarie (away), Lambton (home), Broadmeadow (away) and Weston (home).
Maitland will be without key players Matt Comerford (injury), Josh Dutton-Black (injury), Chris Fayers (overseas) and James Thompson (overseas) for the remainder of the year and will be without the dynamic Ryan Clarke (hamstring), defensive lynch-pin Alex Read (suspension) and striker Sean Pratt (away).
They will receive a major boost with Matt Thompson returning after being a late withdrawal last week with injury and new signing Justin Micallef and mid-fielder Matt Swan will be better for their run against Newcastle Jets Youth in which they played key roles.
Micallef who comes to the Magpies from Spanish third division team ?? had not played for three months and Swan had been sidelined by injury for eight weeks.
Seventeen-year-old Tom Duggan showed his enormous talent coming into the starting line-up against the Jets and working tirelessly up front to create a number of opportunities and keep the Jets defenders under pressure when they tried to work the ball out.
Bolch said Duggan and Micallef were likely to start up front again and he may move Matt Thompson into the front-third as well.
Swan will be critical in the midfield with skipper Carl Thornton to move back into defence to cover for the loss of Read.
Read received an automatic one game suspension after collecting his fifth yellow card for the season and is walking a tight-rope with a two-week ban hanging over his head if he receives two more yellow cards.
“Losing so many players makes it hard, but it does give others chances and the boys who have come in have given their all,” Bolch said.
