By Lance Jenkinson
It is the calm before a three-week storm for St Albans Saints in the National Premier League 2 west.
The in-form Saints had a deserved “freshen up” last week, nursing sore spots emanating from 25 tough rounds of play, but coach Kruni Razov said the team will re-focus at training this week for a crucial stretch of three games that will shape their destiny.
The Saints have a hold on second spot on the ladder, but Moreland Zebras, one point behind them, are desperate to take it off them.
The two sides will lock horns for 90 tense minutes in a blockbuster at Churchill Reserve this Sunday which could go some way to determining which side finishes in that all-important second spot.
If St Albans can win, it will just about secure its spot in the promotion playoffs.
A draw would not be the end of the world for the Saints either, knowing they would keep their one-point buffer in second and have their destiny in their own hands.
The worst-case scenario – a loss – is what the Saints want to avoid at all costs.
“They’re a very good side, but we’ll be ready for them,” Razov said.
“If we can win, I reckon we’ve 85 per cent got our foot in that second spot.”
St Albans has been in spectacular form over the past five weeks. The Saints have won four of their past five games with their only blemish against Melbourne Victory.
Razov said a team meeting before the stretch of positive results was the moment his side vowed to knuckle down and find its peak form.
“We sat down about six weeks ago and just said that it’s the time of the season where you’re either contenders or pretenders,” Razov said.
“The boys set their goals on certain things and I said where we need to improve and what we need to do.”
While Razov would not elaborate on specifics from the meeting, the most telling statistic since is the defensive one which says the miserly Saints have only conceded two goals in the past five games. Their defence has been superbly led by John Lazaridis, Nana Yaw Otou-Acheampong and Ben Shaper.
Antonio Barbaro suffered a season-ending knee injury, which is a huge blow, but the Saints are backing their depth players to cover the loss.
Razov congratulated Altona Magic for winning the league title last round.
The Magic will have a big say in the fortunes of St Albans and Moreland because they face both sides in the run home.
Magic coach Goran Lozanovski said that despite having already sealed the title, he would field as close to full strength teams as possible for the games out of respect to the promotion-chasing sides.
In the top tier NPL, Melbourne Knights are just one point outside the top six with two games to play.
The Knights will square off with Bulleen Lions in a crucial game on Monday night.
Green Gully Cavaliers will go to Hume City on Saturday night desperate to get out of the relegation playoff position.
