Round 22 of the Albury Wodonga Football Association season may very well be the biggest week of the home and away season for Wangaratta City FC’s division one men’s team. The Devils sit seventh on the ladder with one match to play before finals, but the ladder is far from set in stone. Wangaratta can finish anywhere from sixth to eighth, meaning they could face the undefeated Myrtleford Savoy or the powerful Alburys Hotspurs and City, who have only lost seven matches between them for the season, in the first week of finals It’s fair to say this weekend’s match with ‘Spurs has a lot of weight behind it. “The higher we are on the ladder, I think the better chance we have,” senior coach Vitaly Leschen said. “If we finish seventh, we’ll be playing Hotspurs this week and next week, so it’ll be a big game to see how we stack up and hopefully figure out how we go into the quarter finals with as much chance as we can. “I would say there’s a 95 per cent chance we’re playing them again next week. “First time, we lost 1-4, and it was a deserved result, they played better than us. “I think there were things from last time that we’re looking to take into this weekend, and test a couple of things out - hopefully we’ll stack up a bit better this time around.” Despite the long odds ahead of them this weekend and in finals, confidence at South Wangaratta is sky high after the Devils proved they have what it takes to knock off a side higher on the ladder than them. Last weekend’s 2-1 win over top four squad Albury United was the culmination of the belief and momentum which has been building since the midpoint of the season. “It was a very good result, it was good to get a win against a team above us on the ladder, our first one of the year,” Leschen said. “It was a good box to tick going into finals – when we look back on the year, we’ll be glad we ticked that one. "The second half of the year, we’ve had good momentum – the last eight weeks, we’ve probably won five games and drawn a couple. “The boys need to believe they can pull off a victory next weekend, whether that’s through a win this weekend or through getting enough of a game that they believe that they can achieve it.” Meanwhile the senior women need at least a draw against the ladder leading ‘Spurs, or Albury United to lose to Cobram, to solidify their spot in finals. Wangaratta City hosts Albury Hotspurs to round out the home and away season this Sunday, with the division one men from 3pm and the senior women from 11am.
