In a fortuitous turn of events, Demons Knights have been gifted an “inside” man before their FFA Cup clash against Byron Bay this month.
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Demon Knights skipper Morgan Quaife’s brother, former long-serving DK first grade player Lachlan, relocated to Byron Bay this year and is playing for one of the club’s lower grade sides.
Lachlan has been able to feed his brother first-hand information about DK’s opponents for their May 13 Northern Conference qualifying round encounter at Coffs Harbour.
But before Byron Bay starts entertaining the idea that they have a Benedict Arnold in their midst, the only information Lachlan has relayed is essentially this: “You’re gonna have your work cut out for you, brother.”
“I think they’re quite a strong side,” Morgan Quaife said. “I think they’ve won the comp a few times in recent years.
“They’ve got quite a few grades up their and I think they’ll be one of the teams to beat through the competition.
“So we’re looking forward to the challenge. It will not be easy but we’ll take a fairly strong squad down there and we’ll set out to win the game.”
Quaife said there appeared to be a high number of foreign players in the Byron Bay side, such as South American and British nationals.
He said the team was “quite skillful and fast”, while he described the encounter as very important to DK.
“It’s a real honour to represent the Northern Inland Premier League in the FFA Cup,” the solicitor said.
“It’s probably the furthest we’ve got in the FFA Cup, so it’s an exciting challenge. It’s a bit of an unknown for us, but it’s exciting.”
After starting the season with a 4-1 loss to Oxley Vale Attunga, DK then draw 2-2 with North Companions in Tamworth before finding a higher gear in a 5-2 defeat of Joeys FC at home on the weekend.
Quaife believed the side was coming into good form ahead of the Byron Bay match, although he said the main focus was Saturday’s home game against East Armidale.
“It was good to get the ball rolling (against Joeys),” he said. “We’ve got plenty of numbers – a strong squad.
“I think everyone’s in a positive frame of mind at the moment.”
Oxley Vale Attunga will meet Bangalow in the qualifying round in Coffs Harbour, to be played at C.ex International Stadium on May 13 and 14. The four winning teams from the Saturday games play the following day.
The two successful teams from those games advance to the NNSWF finals series at Speers Point on June 10 and 12.
