As Border Raiders FC moves into its final third of the season the men’s and women’s sides are looking to finish their year on a high.

Playoffs remain possible, but not probable, for each side after tough early campaigns.

For the women’s side, promotion to League One has brought new challenges and, while the team will likely finish in the bottom half, it has proved it belongs in the higher division.

Paige Pinson and Amelia Richardson’s squad picked up its second win before the league bye, defeating Eaglehawk 3-2 on July 6.

The win improved the Border Raiders to fifth on the ladder with seven points, leading a bottom-four group of La Trobe University (5), Shepparton South (5), and Eaglehawk (3).

There is a significant gulf in the centre of the table, with fourth-placed Tatura 11 points clear of Echuca-Moama.

Tat has been the one side to really have the wood over the Border Raiders since their promotion, the Echuca-Moama side’s other games all decided by two goals or less.

“I think we’ve fully transitioned into division one,” Pinson said.

“Obviously, we’re still competing and it’s definitely still a struggle for us, but as far as development goes and what we expect when we go into the game, we know what competition we’re coming up against.”

Of the Border Raiders’ five remaining fixtures, three are against members of the top four.

However, the side’s next hit-out will be against a team they have already defeated this season, Shepparton South.

The Border Raiders escaped 5-4 in a nine-goal thriller at Jack Eddy Oval in the first meeting, but will hope to do it a bit easier this time around at McEwen Reserve.

“It's going to be a tough game, but we're definitely hoping to get the win and keep us in the top half of that group,” Pinson said.

“It's been a transition moving up to div one, so it'd be nice not to finish right at the bottom of the table and the girls worked really hard to get there, so I hope we get the outcome for them.”

On the men’s side, the Border Raiders are currently sitting fifth in the six-team League 2.

The first round-robin trip through the league was difficult, but the squad has shown improvement over the middle third.

Coach Adrian Richardson, who took over this season, said he’s looking upwards after a feeling-out period with a quite different squad from last year.

“These guys have never played with each other before,” he said.

“That's one thing that happens, each year we get new blood in there, so it's not easy to manage that.

“We're starting to gel, the guys are starting to know each other and our next third of the season we should do pretty well.”

The side has more than 20 registered players on the books, a boon when it comes to getting 11 on the park each week, but the variable line-ups have made it difficult for players to build on-field rapport with each other.

“This weekend, I've got a completely different crew than what I had last week,” Richardson said.

“It just makes it hard for the guys to gel.

“If they play the same position, for instance, in defence, all season together, they get to know their traits, but we’re changing that every week because we just don't have the same guys.”

The Border Raiders have accrued nine points and are chasing Swan Hill (14) and Golden City (15) for the last finals place with six rounds remaining.

A key issue has been the side’s defence, which has given up 14 more goals than any of the top four.

“We’ve been modifying (our defence) every week to try and find the guys that can do that,” Richardson said.

“Some of these other teams have got some pretty fast players and our team is a little bit slower on the take-off and can't actually pick them up, so we’ve been modifying and trying to get our fastest player in the centre backs.”

Richardson also highlighted that his side had created well in attack, with the most shots on goal in the league, but hasn’t been able to convert regularly enough on that attacking pressure.

He said he believed his team had the quality to make the top four with a strong run home.

The side has six games remaining, taking on leader Spring Gully twice, including this Saturday, and battling the remaining four teams once each.

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Sunday, 20th August 2023

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