SOCCER
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THE Central Coast Mariners arrived in Orange on Wednesday night ahead of Sunday’s A-League trial game against Newcastle, and will clash with a combined Western NSW Mariners FC squad tonight at Wade Park, as a warm-up.
Western NSW head coach Andrew Fearnley confirmed he will select a mixture of his senior and under 20 Men’s State League squads, and despite the latter lining up in Sunday’s grand final he won’t decline them the opportunity.
Orange’s Adam Scimone, Duncan Logan, Brock Mate, Matt Corben, Kenny McCall and Adam Brakenridge are all expected to be named in the squad, and Fearnley said everyone in the group will get time on the field.
While Central Coast will use tonight’s game as a chance to get some miles in their legs, Fearnley said for his side the game is simply being used as experience.
After all, it’s not often his players get the chance to line up against some of the best players in the country.
“We’ve played the Mariners youth team in the past, but none of these guys have had the opportunity to play their top squad,” Fearnley explained.
“It’s a chance that would only really come around if we progressed far enough into the FFA Cup to play an A-League side, which we were close to doing this year.
“Given our relationship with Central Coast, it’s a really good opportunity for the guys to get some experience and test themselves against professional footballers.
“It’ll be a really good challenge.”
Whether Central Coast head coach Tony Walmsley names a full strength side tonight or not remains up in the air, but Fearnley said he’s confident his side is capable of taking it to their professional counterparts regardless.
“I have spoken to Tony, but he hasn’t really decided on what players he’ll put on the park, but either way they’re all professional football players,” Fearnley said.
“He’s very confident in the way he wants Central Coast to play so no matter what team he puts out, whether it’s a lot of the first XI guys or not, I think we can expect them to play the same way.
“They really look to press up-field, and play attractive football. For us that means we need to move the ball quickly and not make errors in the back third of the field, because we know they will punish us if we do that.
“We need to make sure we’re moving quickly in transition, and getting behind the ball to stop them having channels to attack. “Doing that will go a long way to at least limiting what they can do.”
Thursday night's warm-up game kicks off at 6.30pm.