Wee Waa United recently gained two major advantages for the 2021 Namoi Soccer League first grade preliminary final which will be contested on Saturday, August 21 – a home ground advantage and a psychological advantage.
Wee Waa will play on home soil at Cook Oval against Moree Services FC in that game, the side which it defeated 3-0 on Saturday in a highly-anticipated round 14 clash.
In the two sides’ final encounter of the 15-round regular season before they meet again in two weeks’ time, Wee Waa went into the half-time break leading 2-0 after Nathan Hamblin opened the scoring 15 minutes into the match before Matt Hamblin doubled the home side’s advantage.
David Avery then scored the goal of the game midway through the second stanza.
Wee Waa’s leading goal-scorer smashed a volley into the top left corner after running onto a Nick Gorton cross from the left and using his chest to control the ball before firing the perfectly-timed strike.
It secured his side three valuable points as Wee Waa United wrapped up second place.
Wee Waa went into that match two points clear of its opposition, well aware that a victory would give it an unassailable lead over the comp’s third-placed team with just one round to play.
The hosts got the job done, ticking off one of its goals for 2021 according to goalkeeper Steve Phelps.
“Our big goal was to get that home semi,” Phelps told the The Courier.
“That’s been driving us the past few weeks.
“But there’s still a game to go (this Saturday in round 15 against Eleven FC in Narrabri) and a loss at this stage of the year just before a semi is pretty much fatal.
“We all know that so now we don’t want to drop off or just coast into the finals now that we’ve secured a home semi.
“We’ve got some things to work on so we can be at our best.”
Phelps said that Gorton was a standout up front in Saturday’s 3-0 win against Moree, suggesting it was his best game in Wee Waa colours.
The goalkeeper added that Jayden Hamblin was impressive at the back.
That victory continued a strong second half of the campaign for Wee Waa United. The side won just three of its first eight games and occupied third place during that period. However, it has since won four matches from six attempts, only losing to undefeated ladder leaders Narrabri FC on those two occasions.
As reported in Tuesday’s Courier, the other round 14 match was won by Narrabri FC which downed Elevens FC 9-1.
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