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Home / Whanganui Chronicle / Sport

Athletic homecoming

By Jason King
Whanganui Chronicle·
1 Jul, 2016 10:46 AM4 mins to read

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It's home again for Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic in the Lotto Federation League as they look to cap off what has been a horrendous season by building on last week's draw and claim their first win in the last game of the season against Red Sox Manawatu at 2:30pm.

Meanwhile the Athletic Reserves travel to the Palmerston North campus to take on Massey while hoping not to repeat last weekend's dying minutes dive.

After a what would have been a monumental moment last weekend for the Wanganui Athletic first team, today will be seen as their chance to claim a bit of dignity from a trying season, and will be hoping that comes in the form a final day victory.

It's not been the season the Athletic firsts would have planned on, but last weekend's draw at Gisborne would have lifted the morale, and may give them the edge in today's game against the visiting Red Sox.

While the team may not have the same experience and skill levels of Athletic team which pushed for a Central League berth not too many seasons ago, they do boast a core group of players with the ability to carry the team to the required result today.

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From midfield maestro Ryan Holden to attacking revelation Quinn Mailman, there are plenty of players who deserve to be in this league, yet they struggled to pull the team through as more inexperienced or unsuited players were needed to plug the gaps.

Late-arriving shot stopper Matty Calvert has been a great addition to the Reds, albeit probably too deep in the season to have made the impact the side needed, after answering the call of his friend - Central Football's local Football Development Officer Symon King - to come and spend some time in the River City and provide much-needed experience between the sticks.

It could have been a much different campaign for Athletic had these players and others hit their straps earlier in the journey, but it was not to be.

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However, today is the chance for these players to repay the favour back to the club that believed in them and to show their pride with a victory on Wembley's hallowed No1 ground.

Red Sox sit just one spot ahead of Athletic, yet are a distant 11 points ahead, and while the two teams haven't yet faced each other this season, Athletic's confidence should give them the edge to take this one home, and put a positive bookend on the League season.

Athletic Reserves will be champing at the bit to restore faith in their ability after letting a win slip from their grasp in the dying minutes of last week's match against Levin, and will be hoping to unleash that frustration against Massey Celtic today at the university campus.

The young development side has had a rollercoaster time with big losses followed by hard fought draws, with the odd resounding victory thrown in for good measure.

It's been hard to gauge the true performance of the side to date, as they have not been consistent enough in their efforts to truly pass a judgement on how the club's development plans have worked out this season.

The Western Premiership was seen as the best place to blood this young side, who have the benefit of being bolstered by some experienced heads to bring calming direction to the side, yet the experiment has been viewed at both ends of the spectrum by those who have followed them.

Today's game should see the Reserves claim a good victory over cellar-dwellers Massey Celtic, but they will need to work for the entire 90-minute exchange if they are to be victorious.

The young side need to learn to capitalise on their leads, and to not sit back and try to absorb pressure when the lead may only be narrow.

Their previous victories have come when they have continued to press home their advantage, and not take their foot off the throat of the opposition.

With plenty of rounds left to play in the Western Premiership, the Reserves still have plenty of time to find their feet and combine more as a unit, as they keep one eye firmly fixed on future seasons, while making sure they don't bow out of the competition this year.

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