NFL Division 1: West Preston-Lakeside pair Ahmed Saad and Ozgur Uysal injured in preliminary final win
TWO of West Preston-Lakeside’s biggest stars face a race against time to be fit for the club’s first Division 1 grand final in eight years on Saturday.
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TWO of West Preston-Lakeside’s biggest stars face a race against time to be fit for the club’s first Division 1 grand final in eight years on Saturday.
Small forward Ahmed Saad and midfielder Ozgur Uysal suffered hamstring injuries in the Roosters’ 70-point Northern Football League preliminary final trouncing of North Heidelberg on Sunday.
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Saad played no part in the game after quarter-time and was in a tracksuit during the last quarter, while Uysal was sidelined during the second half.
Coach Rob Maiorana said West Preston took a calculated risk to bench the pair to enhance their chances of recovering in time to face Macleod in the Division 1 decider.
“We will see how they pull up, but I am pretty confident,” Maiorana said.
“It was probably the right call that we made now.
“We mulled over it, whether we make them push through it. But we had some confidence we’d get through the day and it gives those boys an opportunity now that we didn’t take any risks with them and got them off early.”
Ahmed Saad has the tracksuit on standing on the West Preston bench. Has to be in a fair bit of doubt for next week's @northernfnl Div 1 GF pic.twitter.com/oTkqfvziQB
— Tim Michell (@tim_michell) September 16, 2018
Despite the absence of Saad and Uysal, the Roosters powered into the grand final for the first time since 2010 with an 18.14 (122) to 7.10 (52) victory against a disappointing North Heidelberg.
The fairytale story of 2018 after their promotion from Division 2, the Dogs crashed out of finals with a whimper two weeks after downing West Preston by 32 points in the major semi-final.
Matthew Vincitorio took Saad’s role with aplomb, bagging four goals, while utility Sam Glover, ruckman Mark Kovacevic, forward Carl Adams and half-back flanker Garrett McDonagh were prominent.
“Extremely proud, that’s the only way you can describe, or explain, how I feel about the boys,” Maiorana said.
“They are a resilient squad and they are very focused on what we need to achieve.
“I haven’t been surprised or amazed with how they find a way.
“With every session we train, every meeting we have, every game we play, we are just getting closer and closer.”
FT: @RoostersWPLFC through to the @northernfnl GF for the first time since 2010 with an 18.14.122 to 7.10.52 victory over a disappointing North Heidelberg. The Roosters were without Ahmed Saad and Ozgur Uysal for most of the last three quarters yet dominated the prelim.
— Tim Michell (@tim_michell) September 16, 2018
Maiorana said his side’s “love” for one another enabled it to dig deep despite being undermanned.
“There’s a lot of love in the group and they just want it badly,” he said.
“Going down a couple of players wasn’t ideal. But they dug deep, found a way and worked hard.”
Macleod defeated the Roosters by 18 points in Round 9, but West Preston turned the tables with a 16-point triumph in Round 14.
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