Max Hatzoglou
North Sunshine Eagles will face its biggest two games yet at the halfway mark of the National Premier League 3 season as they encounter Preston Lions and Geelong, two teams either side of them on the ladder.
On Friday night in round 12, the fifth placed Eagles will face fourth placed Preston Lions and then in round 13, they will play sixth placed Geelong at home.
Eagles coach Ben Isai predicts their match against Preston to attract more than 2,500 people on Friday night at B.T Connor Reserve.
“It’s definitely the game to go to and this is the first time we’re playing them under lights,” Isai said.
“Traditionally we’ve either played them on a Saturday or Sunday but this will be the first time we’re playing them at Preston under lights.
“I would imagine there would be at least 2,500 or more.”
Isai, who formerly played for the club before coaching, said the rivalry between the Eagles and Lions has been good for the sport in Victoria.
“To be honest, overall it’s been really good for football in the state,” he said.
“Preston and ourselves have had some really healthy crowds over the last three or four years since we’ve locked horns with them.
“I played in a couple of these myself and you look forward to them.
“It’s slightly more than a football game which is really good from a players point of view and they’ve got really good crowds this year so I’m sure our players will really enjoy that.”
When the two teams met in the opening round of the season, the Lions scored in extra time to take home a 2-1 win.
In the 80th minute, the Eagles received a red card to striker Jakub Mlcak which left them a player short for the remainder of the game.
Isai said concentration would be a key heading into the game to be played away from home in front of an opposition crowd.
“The biggest thing for our players is just concentration, to stick to what we want to do on the field because you can be quickly over-roared by the large crowd that will be very vocal, very loud and obviously biased to Preston clearly.
“So for us it’s about making sure they concentrate on the game and use that crowd as energy for us.”
