The region’s top soccer stars have already hit the field this year in the opening rounds of the FFA Cup but the best is yet to come when the McDonald’s Northern Inland Premier League season commences this Saturday.
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Locals are in for a super match up when last year’s grand finalists South Armidale take on the minor premiers Demon Knights.
The Scorpions are coming off a successful Acropolis Cup last weekend where they finished runners up but will face a strong Demon Knights side without some of last season’s stars.
"We are struggling with numbers a bit, Jamie is out, he is still suspended, we have just lost Ben Wright,” coach Eamon Hynes said.
"Golden boot last season he's out and the best player last season is out.
"We are pulling it together, we had a training session [on Tuesday] and had a good turnout.
"There is a bit of work to be done.
"I am sure we will be fine but it is a bit of chaos we could have done without.
"We are still very strong, we just have to change the plan.”
Demon Knights are in good form heading into the opening round of the area’s top soccer competition after strong performances in the FFA Cup rounds.
In their opening match against The Armidale School, DK finished comfortable 7-2 winners before they earned a spot in the next stage of the competition after a successful penalty shootout against Norths United.
While his team’s preparations have been rocky, Hynes is keeping their attention on playing their own style and not worrying about going into the first round as underdogs.
"Everyone is very focused and very excited, I am certainly very excited for my first game in this part of the world in the competition up here,” Hynes said.
"We had a chat about that on focusing on things we have control over.
"We are trying to play a certain way and we are staying focused on that and players should be able to come in and out of the system and be effective.”
While they will have more of last season’s top grade players available than their opponents, DK coach Evan Quaife said his won’t be taking the Scorpions lightly.
"As soon as you start thinking like that you might go in a little bit not quite as focused as you should be, thinking they might be a bit weaker but I expect they will have the best team they can out there and they will be very keen and I am sure they will put in a good performance,” he said.
"We have one away and a couple of others who have a couple of weeks before they come back but we will have a strong team.”