North Force men have the tough ask of facing US1 Premiership frontrunners East Coast Bays who are travelling north to Tikipunga Sports Park. Coach Dean Wheatley said tomorrow's match would be a hard game for his troops and they needed to take things step by step. "They (East Coast Bays) are thebest team in the competition - well, they certainly were the best last year, and they are leading again this year," he said. North Force have experienced mixed results this year to date, with three losses and three wins and sit in eighth position in the table, while East Coast Bays have won five, lost one and drew one - and lead the standings by one point, above Waitakere City. However, they head into round nine boosted by two big wins during their previous two US1 Premiership encounters. They defeated Oratia 6-0 two weeks ago, and last week's 5-0 win over North Shore City has lifted the North Force side who are geared up to get their third consecutive victory this weekend. Hopefully an unchanged team from last week will head out onto the pitch tomorrow, Wheatley said. Everyone from the lineup who thrashed North Shore is fit, although a small question mark hovers over skipper Bruce Plunkett's fitness after he suffered a knock to his knee last week. "Bruce's knee was bothering him earlier in the week but he thinks it will be fine in time," Wheatley said. Meanwhile Kyle Mac and Adam Sharpe - who were out of action last week - are unavailable tomorrow and will most probably line up for FC Whangarei's match against Bohemian Celtic in the Chatham Cup competition Wheatley said. North Force Reserves kick off at Tikipunga at 1pm, followed by the top division at 3.15pm. A full-strength North Force women's outfit, who are sitting eighth in the Northern Premier Women's League standings, will go in search of their first win at Glenfield Rovers' home ground on Sunday, up against the Hamilton-based Claudelands team, now fourth on the table.
