DEMON Knights are primed for a battle for second place on the McDonald’s Northern Inland Premier League ladder when they come up against Oxley Vale Attunga this weekend.
Both sides sit on equal points on the table and DK are hoping they can continue with the form they produced on Saturday which helped them down Inverell 5-1.
DK only sit behind Oxley Vale on the ladder through points differential and the match this weekend will determine who will hold outright second.
Coach Evan Quaife was happy his side strung together a positive performance against the eighth-placed Joeys but said they will have to be on their game to overcome OVA.
“We put in a good performance [against Inverell],” he said.
“That was one of the most constructive games we have had in the year.
“We put a lot of passes together and created a lot of triangles.
“More people down to watch us the better against Oxley Vale on the weekend.
“It should be a good game.
“Last time I think we had four red cards.
“I daresay it will be a physical game to say the least.”
Provided Demon Knights claim the victory this weekend, they still face a hard task to hold onto second place with East Armidale and South Armidale hot on the heels of the top sides and rounding out the top five.
Quaife said the competition is pretty close this year and any of the top five teams have the potential to make a run and take out the title.
“I expect from what I have seen, North Companions are big improvers and Souths have smacked a few teams there,” he said.
“I expect North Companions and Tamworth FC will battle it out for sixth spot but you never know what happens.
“The top four or five is pretty much done and dusted.
“Souths have been on a good run.
“They were too strong for us when we played them last but Norths beat them on the weekend.
“If you through and win every game well and good but it is pretty hard in this competition.”
Quaife said his side has dealt with a few training and squad dramas throughout the 2016 season but hoped they would be right on track come semi-finals time.
“We have had a bit of disruptive year,” he said.
“Six times the lights haven’t gone on for us at training so we have had to reschedule training.
“We have had wet fields, our home field hasn’t been able to be used.
“We have had a few suspensions and injuries but we have a big squad and a lot of them have had a run in first grade so whichever 11 we select on the day should do a good job.”
