Wolves on Easter hunt against Demons

BY JOEL RITCHIE
03 Apr, 2010 04:00 AM

Forget Easter eggs - the South Coast Wolves will be hunting back-to-back wins when they host Blacktown City at WIN Stadium today.

The Easter Saturday stoush is only the Wolves' second home game and comes six days after they defeated Bankstown to snap a 385-day losing streak.

But South Coast (ninth) now have to contend with the unbeaten Demons, who share the top spot with Marconi.

Wolves coach Trevor Morgan said he was surprised Blacktown ranked among the front runners.

"I didn't necessarily expect that," Morgan said.

"Their strikers have been the difference. They haven't played (heavyweights) Marconi, Sydney United or Bonnyrigg but they did well against Manly and Sydney Olympic.

"It will take a while before we sort out who the best teams are."

Tolgay Ozbey has spearheaded Blacktown's charge to the top with five goals in as many games, while Aytek Genc is back in the dugout after guiding the Demons to the league cup double in 2007.

Morgan, who coached Blacktown's youth team last term before taking the top job with South Coast, called on his side to capitalise on the momentum of last week's stirring victory.

"Everyone would like to get a roll on. When you get a couple of results in a row, self-belief and expectation comes," Morgan said.

"It's important we back up. We're not going to get a result for free, but we have made our own luck the past couple of weeks."

Morale is high after victory over the Lions and a draw against defending champions Sydney United, but Morgan has warned his troops not to get carried away.

"One win and one draw don't make a season. We want to be consistently good," Morgan said.

"We have got a bit of work to do yet. If we keep playing the way we have been, we're going to lose the easybeats tag."

South Coast have drawn praise from rivals and pundits for their slick passing game - an approach that will be aided by the pristine surface.

"We want to make our home ground our advantage; the players are excited about playing on such a good deck and getting the chance to play our game," Morgan said.

Jason Trifiro will return to midfield after missing last weekend's 3-2 win over Bankstown to illness.

The NSWPL clash - which kicks off at 6.30pm - will be the main event of a holiday football feast for the region's fans.

Dandaloo starts their quest for consecutive Illawarra Premier League titles against Cringila at 4.30pm and the Wolves-Demons youth grade tussle starts at 2.30pm.

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