Ryan Holden will make a timely return for Wanganui Athletic in tomorrow's knockout Federation Cup matchup with Port Hill United in Napier.
Ryan Holden will make a timely return for Wanganui Athletic in tomorrow's knockout Federation Cup matchup with Port Hill United in Napier.
A six-and-a-half hour round van trip might seem like a strange way to keep a football team fresh, but that's what GJ Gardener Wanganui Athletic is hoping as their knockout Lotto Federation Cup campaign kicks off in Napier tomorrow.
After testing themselves in recent years in the premier Chatham Cupcompetition, on which they went on a brief run last year by winning their opening midweek preliminary round game, Athletic have had some roster changes and made the offseason decision to step down to the second-tier Federation Cup in 2019.
They take on home team Port Hill United at Marewa Park, leaving Whanganui at 9.30am to make the 2.30pm kickoff.
Coach Jason King said going down a Cup grade was not about being defeatist, but rather pragmatic.
Athletic have the bye in the next Federation League round, and found last year that having bye weeks due to Cup football after their elimination, on top of regular League byes, led to a dearth of football right when they needed it mid-year – at one stage spending over a month playing just every other Saturday.
"From a club perspective....it's providing football each week and that's what they pay money for.
"It will be a good, long bonding trip for us."
Last year, Wanganui Athletic were drawn to play the preliminary Chatham round and picked up a confidence-boosting 3-1 win over Rangers, just a few days after the Taranaki team had a tough League battle with Versatile Wanganui City.
Athletic's ride ended with a 6-3 first round loss to Palmerston North Marist, the same team they had held to a 3-3 draw the previous weekend in League play.
King hopes playing in a different environment will also allow the team to mentally shift past their previous performance – the deceptive 5-0 loss to League leaders Havelock North Wanderers at Wembley Park last weekend.
Athletic played some good first half football in between the bookends of an early and late Wanderers goal, before they faltered in the second stanza to give up a hat trick.
King is hoping with the much-needed return of Ryan Holden, along with Jai Stephens coming back for another opportunity, that they can get a better result from the same game structure, given Port Hill play in the lower Pacific Premiership League.
"We are still pretty confident in the way we play, [but] second half is still an issue.
"Last week we were a few bodies short for the continuity."
Allowed to use a different roster in Cup fixtures, King will also bring along Jack Morris, a long-time GJ Gardener Wanganui Athletic Reserves squad member, while youngster Aidan O'Connor will get another chance off the bench after impressing last weekend.
Jude Hiri is unavailable for the long trip and will be missed.
Jude Hiri
The steady hand of a veteran will come from Matt Gribble, the uncle of 1sts regular Jake Simcox, with Gribble having joined the Athletic 3rds this season but stepping up to the Reserves last week.
King laughed when asked if Gribble was an unofficial chaperone for the lads on tour.
"I think he'll be the fun uncle."
Port Hill have had a bit of time to think about this game as well, given they had the bye in the Pacific Premiership last Saturday.
They currently sit in seventh spot on their 11-team table, from a 2-0-2 record with eight goals scored, six conceded.
Their last game was a 2-1 loss to Taradale AFC on April 27, although before that they had strung together consecutive wins over Hastings Hibernina SC (3-0) and Western Rangers (4-3), following their opening day loss to Havelock North (1-0).
There will be ten matches played around the Central Football catchment tomorrow for the Federation Cup.
Six teams have a bye, including Wanganui City and Wanganui Marist Celtic, who are stepping up from local league football to test themselves in this division.
