YOUNG coach Duncan Cameron believes the Lions deserve to be part of the Pascoe Cup finals action again this season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Lions remain three points outside the top four after Sunday's entertaining 1-1 draw with third-placed Henwood Park at Rawlings Park.
Young led for a large portion of the match, and then were slightly fortunate to walk away with a point after the Hawks missed a sitter with the final kick of the game.
Young enjoyed periods of dominance, particularly in the first half, and for Cameron, it just reiterated that his team is capable of matching it with the best.
"Definitely. I think we deserve to be in the top four," Cameron said.
"Especially after we knocked them off at the start of the season and then that performance. We've been close and I think we deserve to be there.
"Whether it happens, I still think the boys are putting in well."
Young have one of the better runs unto finals, only having to meet two top-four teams in the six remaining rounds.
MORE SPORT NEWS
It is Leeton who have the hardest run home, with five of their six remaining games against teams fighting it out for a top-four finish.
Henwood Park coach Michael Babic was frustrated with his team's inability to find the back of the net on Sunday and put it partly down to the pressure applied by Young.
"No training doesn't help," Babic said.
"The field, you look at this field and it's not a great field to be playing football on. And a bit more pressure.
"They're young and fast and attack the ball hard, they put you under a lot of pressure. I think if we went up 1-0 or 2-0, maybe we score five or six (on Sunday) but it was the pressure, that's where we sort of fell away."
Henwood Park will be without co-coach Matt Menser against Cootamundra this weekend after he played reaggravated his groin injury against Young. Babic said it will all be about man-management with Menser on the run into finals.
"He's just old. We just have to manage him," Babic said.
"He'll have a week off next week, which will be fine, and if we need him against Leeton, we'll have him back against Leeton.
"Obviously he's an important player when he's out there. You can see the difference, even on one leg, things start to happen when he's on, he makes everyone else better so he's important to have out on the field when he's fit."
THE BATTLE FOR FINALS
The run home
Leeton (second, 29 points, +37): Lake Albert (H), Henwood Park (A), Young (H), Cootamundra (A), Henwood Park (H), Hanwood* (H).
Henwood Park (third, 25 points, +44): Cootamundra (A), Leeton (H), Tumut (H), Tolland (H), Leeton (A), South Wagga* (H).
Lake Albert (fourth, 25 points, +26): Leeton (A), South Wagga (H), Hanwood (A), Wagga United (H), South Wagga (A), Cootamundra* (A).
Young (fifth, 22 points, +19): Tolland (H), Wagga United (H), Leeton (A), Hanwood (H), Wagga United (A), Tumut* (H).
*Football Wagga yet to determine what to do with washout
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Sign up for our newsletters here
- Bookmark dailyadvertiser.com.au
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News