Illawarra Stingrays will take on North West Sydney Koalas with the first piece of silverware up for grabs as they challenge for the Preseason Cup Final on Sunday at Valentine Sports Park.
The Stingrays went through to the final courtesy of a gritty 3-2 victory over the Blacktown Spartans in the final pool game. The Stingrays move into the final undefeated having registered two draws and two wins on their way.
A tight 2-1 win over the Rams saw them kick-off their pursuit of defending the Cup they won last season. This was followed by two draws against the Football NSW Institute and North Shore Mariners, 2-2 and 3-3 respectively.
The first three games of the Cup for the North West Sydney Koalas saw them completely dominate their opponents scoring a 13-2 goal difference on their way. Had it not been for Manly slipping up on the final day though, the Koalas may not have been playing on Sunday. A final day thrashing against Sydney University almost saw them let go of first place, going down 6-1.
As mentioned earlier, their dominance was felt in their first three games, defeating the Emerging Jets first up 6-1, followed by a tight 2-1 win over Manly United and then putting on the scoring boots again and accounting for Central Coast 5-0.
From what form suggests, we’re in for a high scoring final with both sides able to find the back of the net. In saying that, out of the eight games the two teams have played in the Preseason Cup, only one clean sheet was kept.
The first trophy of 2015 goes on the line on Sunday so get down to Valentine Sports Park for a 3pm kick-off.