Hamilton Parish seeking to end cup semi-final jinx
Hamilton Parish will be hoping third time is a charm when they come up against landlords St George’s Colts in the remaining FA Cup semi-final at Devonshire Recreation Club tonight (8pm).
Sergio Goater’s team were eliminated in both the Dudley Eve Trophy and Friendship Trophy semi-finals this season and the head coach is hoping to avoid a similar fate this time around.
“This is actually our third semi- final for this season so this is one hurdle that we have to be able to overcome, and that in itself has inspired the players,” Goater told The Royal Gazette.
“The team is definitely up for it. It’s an FA Cup semi- final and a chance to create history.
“We are going to have a strong starting XI with guys back from injury and work commitments. All in all we are definitely looking forward to it.”
Very little has separated the teams in three meetings this season with two draws in the Premier Division and Parish prevailing against their rivals on penalties in the Friendship Trophy quarter-final.
“The past few games between us have been very tight,” Goater added. “One goal in between us or a draw so it should be a pretty even contest.
“I rate St George’s real high so we will have to be spot on if want to get a result against them.”
St George’s coach Jarreau Hayward also anticipates another tight battle with a spot in the cup final on the line.
“All three of our bouts this year ended in a tie after full time, so it will be a challenge on both sides as expected,” he said.
“Parish are a very good team. We have only recently overtaken them in the standings, so that says a lot.”
Hayward says morale is high in the camp.
“It's a semi-final and we are ready for the challenge,” he added. “The morale in the team is high.
“We've trained well this week and in recent weeks, so we know what we have to do. Everyone is focused and our mentality is unified.”
Parish are gunning for a second FA Cup final appearance and the first since losing to North Village 2-0 during the 2004-05 campaign. Victory in tonight’s semi-final would mean St George’s competing in the FA Cup final for the first time.
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