WAGGA United captain Lincoln Weir is adamant he will be fit to lead his team if they lock down a Pascoe Cup finals berth after re-dislocating his shoulder in Saturday night's 2-0 upset of Lake Albert.
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Weir left the field shortly after scoring a long range sealer with around five minutes left, and will miss next weekend's last round against Tolland with two yellow cards also hanging over his head.
It was the first defeat since round five for defending champions Lake Albert (36 points, +39 goal difference) but Hanwood (36, +54) squandered a chance to lock up top spot with a 1-0 home defeat to Leeton.
It allowed Henwood Park (36, +30) to draw level at the top with a 4-2 win over South Wagga.
The Sharks are likely to take on Henwood Park in the qualifying final at Rawlings Park in the first week of finals.
The race for fourth and fifth spot is just as tight with sixth-placed Young (30) points just a point behind Leeton (fourth) and Wagga United (fifth) after a 6-1 belting of Tumut.
Adrian Merrigan opened the scoring for Wagga United midway through the first half with a headed goal off a free kick.
Weir has been nursing a bung shoulder virtually all season, but said he'll be fine to play in finals.
"I'm definitely out next week, I'm on two yellow cards as well so I don't want to risk being suspended for finals," he said.
"I'll be straight back into it (for finals). There was just a lot of space in the midfield (when I scored) so I thought I'd creep up and was very fortunate.
"We've taken a lot of confidence from that game having a few players out like Max Lysaght, Tyler Allen and Chris Walker."
The Sharks were also undermanned with influential wingers Cam Mavor and James Trevaskis unavailable, while Jamie Rankin is confident of returning from an ankle injury before finals.
Lake Albert goalkeeper Hayden Callander is hopeful the result kicks them back into gear after bounced back from their 3-0 round five loss to Henwood Park with an 11-game unbeaten run.
"I don't know whether it was a subconscious thing where we knew we'd already locked up a top three berth (and double chance), it just wasn't our night," Callander said.
"It (Mavor and Trevaskis) out makes a massive difference. The guys that played there did well still but they don't quite have the flair those two boys bring.
"Finishing second or third really makes no difference so we'll see if we can do it (win title) again."
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