Last weekend's Football NSW Champion of Champions Tournament clash didn't quite go to plan for Waratahs FC, but skipper Ryan Sinclair said his side's taken plenty from the 7-nil hammering ahead of Saturday's Orange District Football Association A Grade grand final.
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Sinclair conceded his side were simply 'outclassed' by the Kemps Creek Tigers in the opening round of the prestigious knockout tournament, which still provided plenty of positives for the understrength sky blues.
"They were just too good and too fit, their touches were a class above ours and they made the most of the chances they had," Sinclair said.
It doesn't dent our confidence at all, they're a classy side.
- Waratahs FC skipper Ryan Sinclair
"The result wasn't really a focus though. We had Craig Sugden, Jack Sinclair, Steve Cooper and Adam Kelly out and that's basically our spine, coming up against a Sydney association side was always going to be tough but we got plenty from it anyway.
"A lot of guys got some miles in their legs before the grand final with big minutes and a few had the chance to get a run coming back from injury. Cal Sinclair for instance, he hasn't played for about eight weeks but has virtually a full game under his belt now.
"Little things like that were more important to us than the result. Admittedly we'd probably have liked to keep it a bit closer but one of their seven was an own goal too, and it doesn't dent our confidence at all, they're a classy side."
Kemps Creek led 3-nil at the half-time break before slashing home another four goals in the second half, specifically the back end of the second half.
"They scored early and we had a couple of chances to equalise but it didn't take them, they scored another couple before the break and then ran away with it in the second half," Sinclair said.
"Adam Brakenridge pulled off a good save in goal from a penalty and that was good to see, we showed some other glimpses of our best as a side as well, we'll be better for the run."
Sugden, Jack Sinclair and Cooper will all return for the decider this weekend, although Kelly remains unavailable, in which Waratahs face Barnstoneworth FC after they took down clubmates United 2-nil in Saturday's preliminary final.
Brakenridge actually dislocated his finger in the Champion of Champions defeat but signalled he'll be ready to go come Saturday's grand final.
Dubbo's Orana Spurs also featured in last weekend's opening round of Football NSW's knockout, losing out 3-1 to Northbridge at Lady Cutler.
The Orange association also fielded a combined under-18 team in that division of the tournament, they were beaten 5-1 by Winston Hills.
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Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
