Parkes United men's Premier League hockey side returns to action tomorrow, hosting the Orange Wanderers on Saturday afternoon at Stephen Davies Field.
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United are coming off two weeks rest and will be on the lookout to cause an upset as the Orange side has been in a purple patch of form.
Wanderers had a draw against St Pats the week before the long weekend, showing they will be in the mix come the end of the season.
United were disappointed their clash against Lithgow Panthers was washed out due to the wild weather that hit Parkes as they had their strongest side on paper set for the clash.
United have been working hard at training as a result, with good consistent numbers, and are starting to show glimpses of the form that has them as competition dark horses.
The side is capable of matching it with anyone on their day, but lacks consistency.
“This week is a really good test for the whole side as we are near full strength,” defender Dan Wilson said.
“Orange have been talking up their competition chances this season with their start to date one of the best they have had since merging a couple of years ago.
“We got the win over them in round 2 down in Orange so it would certainly be nice to get another one and remind everyone we are still around the mark.”
For this week, the main task will be converting the easy chances in front of goal.
In past games United have managed to blow multiple chances in front and in turn place undue pressure on themselves.
The forward line of Jack Elliott, Josh Kearney, Andrew Bourke and the returning Brad Gardiner will have their work cut out as the Orange keeper is in great form.
The midfield will again be key with Regan Hotham, Damien Morgan and the energetic Hamish Orr set to do the heavy running for the side, while defensively, Ben Hawken, Matt Job, Logan Dolbel and Dan Wilson will look to contain the Orange strikers.
“Defensively it will be about limiting their chances as they have some quality strikers up front who can certainly make you pay for lapses in concentration,” Wilson added.
“Up front it is going to be about remaining patient in front of goal.
“The last couple of weeks against City and Dubbo things didn't go to plan at some stages and we went away from what was working and probably tried to hard in some cases and started to look for a miracle goal.”
The game hits off at 2:50pm after the Women's Premier League side hosts Lithgow Panthers at 1:30pm.
