Despite handing the Taree Wildcats a 7-0 thrashing in the last regular-season round of premier league competition, Wallis Lake have finished the season third and missed out on a home game semi-final.
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Wallis Lake were relying on minor premiers Port United to account for the Macleay Valley Rangers in order to finish second, however the Rangers came away with the upset and as a result have forced Wallis Lake to journey up to Kempsey this weekend to meet them in the semi-final.
Although things didn't go the way he would've liked, coach Jeff Summers said he was unperturbed by the prospect of playing the Rangers up there.
"I believe we've got Macleay's measure if we play to the best of our ability," he said.
Going a step further, he said he believed his team had what it took to take out the entire competition.
"I think our team is more than capable of winning this competition," he said.
"It's ours to lose if we play to the best of our ability."
The team certainly added substance to Summers' words with their thorough dismantling of the Wildcats on the weekend.
Roan Whiteman scored a hat-trick in front of the hometown crowd, earning himself man of the match honours and finishing the season as the competition's top scorer.
Jarrad Naylor repeated the feat in reserve grade, scoring the day's second hat-trick on the way to a 4-0 defeat of the Wildcats.
Wallis Lake finished the reserve grade season as minor premiers.
Summers said both wins came on the back of good all-round team efforts and were aided by the support from the local crowd.
"We had a good turnout," he said.
"It's always good, particularly coming into the finals."
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Another highlight of the day was the exhibition matches played by Taree-based special needs team the Rainbow Warriors, who were sporting new jerseys supplied by the Samuel Brett Nelson Kickstart Foundation.
"It was really lovely," Summers said.
"They're so proud to have their own jerseys.
"The crowd really got involved."
Ex-Taree Wildcats captain and coach Ben Sedlan, who was involved with the Rainbow Warriors, also said goodbye to the game on the day, and Summers paid tribute to his contributions to football in the area.
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