In charge of the game will be local referees Gabrielle Jansen, Phoebe Crothers and Roché Du Toit.
They are among only four qualified soccer referees in Deniliquin – the other being Wanderers’ goalkeeper Matt Crothers, who said this “speaks volumes about girls soccer in Deniliquin”.
While Wanderers haven’t been able to field a women’s or girls team, the three female referees have played and refereed junior soccer locally with Du Toit and Crothers currently playing in Echuca-Moama’s women’s system.
The Wanderers will host Swan Hill at Rotary Park tomorrow, with kick-off at 2pm, hoping for a strong performance following last week’s loss to Echuca-Moama Border Raiders.
Wanderers have virtually secured a finals position in Football Victoria’s Greater Bendigo Men’s League 2, with two matches remaining in the home and away season.
Last Saturday in a tight contest the Wanderers went down 3-1 to Raiders, who clinched the minor premiership with the win.
Matt Crothers said last week’s match showed promising signs for the team before their premiership campaign.
“All the goals were scored in the first half,” he said.
“Personally, I asked the guys to treat it like a training run as it was a dead rubber.
“The main thing was to take note of how to counteract what Moama were doing.
“It puts us in good stead for a likely first week of finals match-up against them.
“The final score was 3-1 but we had more chances than them throughout the game.
“They also scored chance goals including from a free kick via a freak gust of wind.
“We were also missing players, but we are looking good for finals.”
The Wanderers are fourth on the ladder while tomorrow’s opponent Swan Hill are in second, though the match is not expected to impact final positions.
“The thing about this league is that it is so close,” Crothers said.
“Results could go either way so there is no need to add extra risk before finals.
“If we play Echuca-Moama in the first week of finals and win, we would most likely play Swan Hill in the grand final.
“There is a mathematical chance that Castlemaine Green could make the finals ahead of us, but they would need to pull off a miracle and beat Echuca-Moama on Sunday.
“If that happens I’m fairly confident we can beat Castlemaine Gold in the last game, though hopefully that is not required.”
Tomorrow is also the Wanderers’ Past Players and Sponsors’ Day.
Crothers said the day coincided well with the fixture against Swan Hill.
There is a good relationship between clubs with the visitors bringing extra travellers as well and providing meat for the barbecue.
All Deniliquin Wanderers past players and sponsors are invited for the free day out with drinks provided during the game under the marquees and a catch up at the Deniliquin Bowling Club following the match.
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