League is in our hands, says Pentland's Gray
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“IT’S in our hands.” That’s the message from Pentland United’s Michael Gray ahead of tonight’s crunch clash against Wick Groats at Ham Park.
The two meet up in a match that could decide the CAFA Division One title.
United lead Groats by one point. Should United win, the league championship is theirs – regardless of what happens in their final game of the season at Lybster.
Should Groats win, they will top the table with a two-point lead and will go into their final game of the campaign at John O’Groats with a whole host of permutations on the cards that will decide the title’s destiny.
A draw between the two will leave the situation at the top as it is now with the Wick side needing to better what Pentland do in the final round of fixtures.
However, United co-manager Gray would very much prefer it if his team take care of business with a win rather than go down to the wire or have to depend on a big favour from John O’Groats.
He said: “At the start of the season, we set out our targets and we’re ahead of where we wanted to be. We’ve made great progress this year.
“We’re in with a chance of success and it’s in our hands but we’re under no illusion as to how tough it will be.
“We’ve faced them a number of times in the cup competitions and no two games have been the same.
“It would be good if we can win it against them. A draw wouldn’t be a disaster but we’d have to go to Cow Park and face a Lybster side fighting to preserve their top-flight status.
“If we lose to Wick Groats, we don’t want to be in a position of hoping John O’Groats can do us a favour.”
Meanwhile, Wick Groats boss Kevin Anderson is looking to his side to call upon their own title-winning experience to clinch what could be a crucial win.
He said: “We need to win, pure and simple. We lose and the title’s gone.
“A draw would leave us requiring a turn from Lybster and us winning a tough game at John O’Groats. We don’t want to leave things to chance.”
