Lambton Jaffas coach Shane Pryce believes his defence is better positioned to handle the Broadmeadow threat when they return to Magic Park on Sunday for the NPL men's preliminary final.
Two weeks after Magic edged out Lambton in a fiery qualifying semi-final 2-1 at the ground, Jaffas and Broadmeadow will battle for the chance to face premiers Maitland in the grand final.
An 84th minute goal from substitute Jayden Stewardson proved the difference that day between the two best defensive sides in the league. Magic conceded just 17 goals in 20 regular-season games and Jaffas let in 18.
Jaffas, though, struggled for results late in the season before bouncing back with a 2-0 win over Newcastle Olympic last Saturday in the minor semi-final.
It was just a second victory in their past seven games and Pryce said the return of left-back Luke Remington, who missed the Magic loss with a hamstring injury, was a key factor, along with the leadership of keeper Ben Kennedy and centre-back Josh Piddington in defence.
With Remington missing last time against Magic, Pryce said right-footed Alex Hilton was played out of position at left-back. Right-back Matt Hoole was injured in that game and is out for the season, leaving Hilton to take over that role last week.
"I just think this week we are a lot more balanced with Remington in the side," Pryce said. "The way we went trying to link up with other players against Olympic, it was probably the best we've tried to play that way, and play out of the backline, for three or four weeks, so there's encouraging signs there, even though there's a massive job in front of us."
Andrew Pawiak (ankle) returns after missing the Olympic win. Michael Kantarovski, who came off the bench last week, is away at Hoole's buck's show in Queensland.
Pryce praised the sacrifice of five starting players who are taking the field instead of attending the weekend away, which was to fall after the grand final before the rain-marred season was pushed back. He said each player "lost nearly a grand each" in non-refundable expenses.
Broadmeadow coach Damian Zane was also backing his defence after a 4-1 loss to Maitland in the major semi-final last week.
Magic missed a penalty to go 2-0 up inside 27 minutes before the Magpies powered to victory. It was only the second time this year Broadmeadow have conceded more than two goals in a game and Zane was confident his young backline would improve.
"We went through the video and there's definitely some areas that we can be better," Zane said. "All year we've come such a long way because the boys have learnt from mistakes. As much as the miss was a turning point, some of those goals were preventable and we've looked at that, and we'll go again."
Magic will likely have a familiar squad to the one that beat Jaffas last time. Jake Harris (work) is again away, while Keanu Moore returns from suspension.
