Carman Valley Leader — Kickers battle for playoffs going down to the wire

Club needs help to secure post season berth
By Gene Still

Winning may not be enough for the Carman Kickers. Heading into their final regular season game which was played on Saturday, Sept. 11 when they took on Kildonan Fusion (results were unavailable as of press time), the Kickers needed help from other Fourth Division teams in order to secure a playoff spot. “We’re in a position where we have to depend on other teams,” Carman coach William Hoogerdijk said. The Kickers had a tenuous hold on the eighth and final playoff spot in the division as of press time, with a 7-10-4 record. That was just one point ahead of Euro FC. However, Euro had two games in hand. “We put ourselves in this position and the guys know that,” Hoogerdijk said. “There were some games we felt we should’ve won, whether it was because we came out sluggish in the second half or didn’t have a full line-up of players.” He noted that it didn’t help that they were forced to play at times with a depleted lineup due to job and school commitments. Different lineups“There were times when it seemed like nobody’s ever playing the same position, which makes it even harder (to compete),” Hoogerdijk said. The coach added, that even if they do get some favourable results from other division clubs by beating Euro, Carman needs to win their last home contest of the regular season against Fusion. “But in the end, even if we do get help from other clubs, we just have to win our last game, we just can’t depend on others.”