ROARING AHEAD

24 February 2015

Shepparton News - Matthew Galea

COBRAM CLUB GOES DIRECTLY THROUGH TO THIRD ROUND OF FFA CUP AFTER FITZROY PULLS PIN ON FIXTURE

Cobram Roar’s players probably still haven’t recovered from Saturday’s 5-2 mauling of St Kevin’s Old Boys in the first round of FFA Cup Victorian preliminaries.

However, the effort has proved worthwhile.

Without kicking another ball, the Roar is into the third round of the Victorian preliminaries after Fitzroy Soccer Club — which was drawn away to the Roar for Saturday’s round of cup ties — pulled out of the cup.

Given two state league f ive clubs have travelled to Cobram already, the withdrawal of a state league two side that would have been favoured to beat Roar with a reasonable chance of progressing through the preliminary rounds came as a surprise to Roar playing coach Adam Gatcum.

‘‘I made a phone call to arrange a kick-off time for them because we like to give them some f lexibility given they have to travel and they advised they weren’t in a position to come up,’’ Gatcum said.

‘‘They said numbers is their main issue, which is odd as their season starts soon and I would have thought they’d want a competitive hit-out.’’

However, the Roar won’t be resting on its laurels.

The new side will host an intra-club friendly in place of the cup tie to keep players match-fit with under17, reserves and senior players involved at Apex Reserve.

The match will kick off at 12.30 pm and will feature a crossbar challenge for spectators and youngsters.