Odds on Douglas Villa

SPOT ON: Douglas Villa's successful 13th grade football team are: back row, : Caleb Cavubati, Steph Andrews-Paul, Ethan Childs, Lincoln Williams, Jayden Powell, MJ van Niekerk and Dave Wright (coach). Front row: Damon Wittens, Megan Hayes, Mikael Starzynski, Jackson Burling, Sam Murray, Richard Lennox, Quinn Childs, Liam Kerr and Thomas Wagner.

Douglas Villa 13th grade football team have had a phenomenal season - and it could be about to get even better.

Saturday will see these youngsters compete in the final of Capital Football's Super 7 plate competition at Memorial Park in Petone. A win over Upper Hutt would be their 17th in as many matches

Finals, of course, do have a habit of throwing up surprises but, considering Douglas Villa secured a 5-1 victory the last time the two teams met, the smart money would have to be on them maintaining their unbeaten record.

But even if Douglas Villa suffer a loss it won't stop them from being the first Wairarapa side to have qualified to play Capital junior premier league level in 2014

That was the prime objective for coach Dave "Tubs" Wright when they began their latest campaign. They are already assured of a spot in the Capital 14th grade JPL series next season where they will lock horns with the other nine top club sides in their age group from within the greater Wellington region.

Wright is the first to admit, however, he has been "blown away" by the team's long winning streak.

"I knew they were a very good side but 16 wins in 16 games ... no, you don't dream about those sorts of things," he said. "I always thought making the premier league was on but to do it this way, it's pretty unbelievable." Douglas Villa began their season in the 13th grade promo division, the second tier to the premier league, where they were in one of two pools, each consisting of six teams. Ten games were played on a home-and-away basis and they won the lot to qualify top for the Super 7 plate competition, involving the first two teams in each of the promo pools and the bottom three premier league sides.

Six preliminary matches were played and, again, Douglas Villa went through undefeated, guaranteeing their JPL 14th grade place for next season and a place in Saturday's final.

Wright puts his side's remarkable record largely down to the attitude of the players.

"They are easily the most passionate and committed side I have ever coached. They genuinely love their football. And they want to win, no other result is good enough for them."

The Wright coaching philosophy is uncomplicated, with the emphasis being on using the width of the field and retaining possession for long periods.

"It's not rocket science. If you go wide you actually force the defence to go with you and that creates more space up the middle. And, obviously, the more you have the ball the less chance there is for the opposition to score."

Wright expects the bulk of his side, which includes two girls, Megan Hayes and Steph Andrews-Paul, will be back on deck for their JPL 14th grade campaign next season but he says there will still be the chance for new faces to be introduced to the team.

"Like usual there will be trials and we will go from there. It's definitely not a closed shop," he said.