It is the magic of the cup that will see an unexpected Challenge Cup final tomorrow night as Forest Killarney take on Pittwater at Cromer Park, kicking off at 7:30pm.
Having played each other only two days ago with Pittwater defeating Forest Killarney 4-1, the stake of tomorrow nights came has only risen.
After a long journey to reach the final both teams will be looking to make a statement. Forest Killarney are hoping to bring the underdog story to life and show the Northern Beaches, they are a force to be reckoned with whilst Pittwater will be out to prove they can win it all.
Forest Killarney have had three strong wins to make to it to the final starting their campaign off with a 3-1 victory over Dee Why, a 6-0 win against Harbord and finally a 2-1 victory in the semi-final against St Augustine.
Pittwater felt like adding some spice to their Challenge Cup campaign by winning their first round against Narrabeen on penalties. A 2-1 victory against Brookvale and a 1-0 win in their semi-final against Wakehurst was enough to secure their place in the big dance.
Although two different journeys both teams are now faced with the same opportunity tomorrow night.
Pittwater coach Adam Israel and his team know the opportunity that lays in front of them and are readily awaiting the match.
“It is obviously an honour and a privilege to be in the Cup final, it’s maybe not quite the prestige of winning the league or the grand final but the mentality of the club and the boys is whatever we enter we want to have a genuine crack at, and this is no different” Israel said.
“We wanted to give ourselves a chance at winning this and we have a 50/50 chance at the moment.”
Paul O’Shaughnessy, Forest Killarney’s coach, feels no different and is excited for the opportunity to create club history.
“It is the first time in Forest Killarney’s history that we have ever made the Men’s MWFA Cup final, so that’s awesome, and it is pretty cool to be in the final in our 60th anniversary.” O’Shaughnessy said.
Although there are expectations of tomorrow’s game floating around the Northern Beaches football scene, both coaches know that anything is possible.
“In a final anything can happen. The wind and rain is a real leveller, and Forest will be excited as it is their first opportunity to win a major senior trophy” Israel said.
“They are a young and very well drilled side and I expect a really really tough game from them.
“We have a lot of experience and good footballers, and it will just be a battle of who wants it more and who is better on the night regardless of the conditions will win”
Forest also know the task they are up against but are still hopeful that they can pull off the underdog story.
“Pittwater in our opinion are the standouts followed closely by CC Strikers, so it is obviously a bit of a David and Goliath moment for us tomorrow night, so we are being realistic” O’Shaughnessy said.
“Preparing for Pittwater is about recognising they are a very establish and organise team. We just need to make sure we don’t hold back and give our best effort.
“Anything can happen, we obviously got beat 4-1 on the weekend which is quite a convincing win however we did have periods where we played well, and Pittwater is quite complimentary of how we play football which is really nice of them to give us that respect.
“Anything can happen in a cup final and what I have noticed about my team is that we really turn it on in night games and so hopefully the boys turn it on for tomorrow night.”
With both teams looking to put on a show and represent their clubs it is set to be an entertaining match here at Cromer Park.
“We are looking forward to representing the club, Pittwater is a fantastic club and myself and the boys love representing them and hopefully we do them proud” Israel said.
Whilst O’Shaughnessy said “we are excited to play on such a good pitch and stadium, I have been watching Manly United and it looks great. We are just honoured to play in the final and hope we give a good account of ourselves and make it a good game.”
Match Details
Men’s Challenge Cup Final – Forest Killarney vs Pittwater
When: Tuesday 5th July
Where: Cromer Park Field 1
Time: 7:30pm Kick Off
