JUNEE coach Craig Duncan says his team will use the prospect of playing a Leonard Cup preliminary final at home as motivation when they clash with Henwood Park in a cut-throat battle at Rawlings Park on Sunday.
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The Jaguars, who finished third after the regular season, have no more second chances after going down 3-0 to Tolland in the qualifying final last week.
They will take on Henwood Park in this week's elimination final after the Hawks edged Wagga United in a shootout after scores were locked at 2-all after extra time.
Football Wagga traditionally stages preliminary final weekend at a town outside Wagga to promote the code and give clubs an opportunity to fundraise, with Junee to host on Sunday, September 15.
Junee travelled with just one substitute for the Tolland match, the Wolves scoring all three goals in the second half through Joanna Balcombe, Abbey Gillogly and Rachael Waller.
The Wolves take on minor premiers Hanwood on Sunday, with the winner the first team through to the grand final.
Duncan expects to have more troops for the Hawks clash and said booking a home final in enticing given Junee hasn't fielded a Pascoe Cup men's team this season.
"It'd be great to play a final on the home turf. Our local tourist spots will appreciate it because they tend to get a lot of business from it," he said.
"The venue's really good and the ground's spot on, it's a credit to the town the facilities we have out here.
"It was a bit concerning to lose 3-0 but the girls got very tired in that second half, hopefully we'll have a couple more players on Sunday.
"It's been a good effort by the girls because our front three on Saturday had an average experience in the game of about a year-and-a-half, they gave it everything they had."
Henwood Park routed Junee 5-0 in their first meeting this year, but the Jaguars returned serve with 2-1 and 1-0 victories.
"We will come in confident and think we can roll them, but it's a totally different game in finals," Duncan said.
Henwood Park, who has made the grand final for the past nine years, moved into the final four the hard way.
After Tolland scored early the Hawks equalised through Bronte Buik before halftime.
Still level at 1-all at the end of regulation, Henwood Park took the lead in extra time through Ingrid Weir before the Wolves equalised in the dying stages.
The Hawks won the penalty shootout 4-3 to keep their season alive.
"We set our goal at the start of the year to make finals and we've tested the top teams," Hawks coach Rod Buik said.
"It's always good to come off a win heading into the next game. We should be back to full strength next week, which is the first time since the beginning of the comp when we won our first two games."
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