Despite a 5-0 defeat to Bundoora United last Sunday, coupled with Ashburton’s defeat of Monbulk to leave his side in relegation danger, Cairnlea FC coach Rick Marchioli was confident his side could successfully avoid the drop, given they win their crunch match against Ashy this afternoon.
However, he felt disgruntled at what he perceived to be a number of factors working against his side this season, including conceding innocuous goals at less than ideal times, along with contentious officiating.
“It seems like there’s some force that doesn’t want us to stay up, [Bundoora] scored their first goal from a corner kick and that sort of thing has been happening all season,” Marchioli said.
“Credit to the girls they kept pushing and pushing but when a player gets sent off for challenging a 50-50 ball with the keeper – I know the game’s done and dusted by then – but that sort of thing kills you, it’s ridiculous, and the girls give up, and it gets to the point where both teams are laughing with each other.
“I think I’ve said all I need to say about refereeing this season. I think its quite clear to every single person out here today that he lost control of the game, it became a fight to be honest, and nobody wants to become involved in that.
“Our girls are at fault, and so are theirs, and it stems from one thing, and the one thing I’ve been saying all season, and the person in the middle needs to be monitored as well.”
Marchioli refused to concede his side would lose the relegation race to Ashburton, with his side one point below their counterparts, but with a game in hand and a tasty clash between the two today, there’s still plenty of belief in the camp.
“The referee dealt us a ridiculous blow, sending off Emily Thomas [last week]. I still cant get my head around that,” he said.
“[However], I’m confident about the Ashburton game, we’ve beaten them before.
“There were passages today where we were not the weaker team.”
The 23-year-old, who is one of Australia’s up-and-coming coaches, refused to comment on personal ambitions or where his career would take him beyond this season, reaffirming his dedication to the current task at hand.
“I haven’t really thought about [the future], I never think about that during the season, the most important time is now and I’m putting 100% effort on what I’m doing now,” he said.
“At the end of the season I’ll review things, but I never do that during the season.
“The girls have been fantastic, and any other group that loses like that would drop their heads or stop coming to training.
“But they haven’t, their attendance is still there, they’re still willing to learn and they’re still willing to play, they’re still willing to fight to keep the club up so that’s very enjoyable in that sense.”
Cairnlea play a vital six-pointer against Ashburton at 3:00pm, with the winner taking a huge step in securing WPL survival for next season.