The Courier |
A 109-POINT trouncing by North Ballarat City in round one is the last thing on East Point coach Dan Jordan’s mind.
When these two sides last met in round one, North simply ran riot.
Derick Micallef booted 10 goals in his first outing for the club and the Kangaroos simply had no answers against a side many had feared would be almost unbeatable.
But that was then and this is now.
North City are still undefeated almost four months later, while East Point sits in fifth position with nine wins and four losses.
However Jordan is certainly not waving the white flag.
He knows the challenge is difficult, to say the least, conceding his side will have to play to its absolute best to get near the black and white.
“We put the round one loss behind us pretty quickly, it was very disappointing but
it’s history,” Jordan said.
“We’re approaching this match as if it’s very much a winnable game. We’re going to have to play at our best, we know that.”
Jordan said Tom Cashin was likely to miss through injury and Joel Van Meel was unavailable, although both have been named in an extended squad for the Sunday game.
However key forward Brad Whittaker seems to have recovered from a shoulder injury and could return.
With a top-three finish now an outside chance, Jordan said the focus had turned to assessing each week on its own merit.
“Every game is massive now, so we can’t afford to be looking past this week,” he said.
With Jordan in stunning form himself off the back of 15 goals last week and 89 for the season thus far, the task of manning the Roos spearhead will most likely rest with Daniel Ross-Smith.
The usual full back Ryan Hobbs will miss again through suspension for North Ballarat City, while Tyler George is likely to miss with an ankle injury.
Shaun Lyle has also been named to make his return from a hamstring injury.
A win would all but guarantee North a top-of-the-table finish for 2013, sitting on two wins and 100 percentage points ahead of second-placed Sunbury.
PREDICTION: North to keep on winning.
