TAMWORTH Public will tackle Illawong this morning for a spot in the State PSSA Boys Hockey Knockout final at Narellan.
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The Graeme McKenzie-coached side blazed their way into the final four last last month with a 4-nil win over Chittaway Bay.
McKenzie doesn’t “know a great deal” about Illawong other than they were the Sydney East/Sydney South West regional champions, and have had some success in the competition in the past.
“Illawong have won it a few times over the years, they must be a reasonably strong hockey area,” he said.
It is the furtherest Tamworth Public has gone in the knockout for a while.
The last two years that McKenzie has had them they’ve won their first game but then been knocked out by Timbumburi.
This year they almost came untsuck in the regional final against Ben Venue but Ryan Taggart got them home in a golden-goal thriller.
“It’ll be a great opportunity for them,” McKenzie said.
“If we can score goals we’ll be okay.”
“I think we’ve got enough stronger players around the field to compete.”
“It’s a matter of whether we can turn chances into goals.”
How they work as a team will also be a big factor.
The signs in the last couple of games have been good for that.
“We’re starting to learn to use everyone and trust as a team,” he said.
The side is a mix of years with a couple of Year 3’s thrown in as well as a couple of Year 5’s.
“There’s good signs for the future,” he said.