Cardiff Met’s Will Evans is hoping his Caridff Met teammates can end their final hoodoo by beating Cambrian and Clydach on Saturday in the Nathaniel MG Cup final.
Cardiff Met have previously lost the Nathaniel MG Cup Final, when they were defeated by TNS, and have lost the European Play-off cup final the last two years running.
But, Saturday presents an opportunity for Met to end that run and to take home some silverware.
Evans has insisted that he and his team-mates will do everything possible to secure victory on the weekend.
“It’d be massive. I think everyone knows that the players know that, the manager knows that. Everyone behind the back doors, everyone knows how big it would be.
“Obviously, we’ve not won a trophy here yet, the University stuff we have, but as in the Welsh Prem competitions, the league, it’s not something we’ve been too successful in. We’ve had three losses in finals, we’re really up for it, and we’ll do whatever we can to bring the trophy home.”
Met just missed out on the top six in the Welsh Premier League this term, and now face a tougher task to qualify for Europe this term. However, Saturday’s cup final is a big test for the club.
But, Evans is keen to insist that this cup final doesn’t have to be the potential saving grace for their season.
“It’s not the way we’ll look at it. We see now bottom six as our chance to get the seventh spot. Obviously, we’ve got the cup final now. We made it last year and lost to TNS, we’re hoping this year we can hopefully win something and put a trophy in the cabinet which we haven’t done.”
“It’s a big one for us. Really looking forward to it. Obviously, we’ve hit form last couple of games with three 3-0 wins. We’re scoring goals, keeping clean sheets, so we’re full of confidence going into the game.
Despite being a division above Cambrian and Clydach, the winger insists that they’re not underdogs.
Cambrian have defeated Newtown, Barry, Aberystwyth and The New Saints en route to the final at Jenner Park, and Evans is keen to highlight that this shows that Met aren’t clear favourites for the showpiece on Saturday.
“We’ve been in the lower leagues before, playing higher opposition, they’ll be right up for it, as are we. They’ve been on a great run to get here, they’ve beaten four Welsh Premier teams they’ve beaten.
They’re going to be no pushovers, we know that they’ll be physical, they’re athletic, they get around the pitch well. So it’s something we’ve got to approach as though we would any other game.”
“They’ve beaten four Welsh Prem teams, so you can’t really say they’re the favourites. We certainly don’t see ourselves as the favourites.
They’re in great form themselves, and the cup run they’ve been on, so I can’t really say that we’re the favourites. But, we’ve got to approach it like we would approach any other game and let’s just hope we can win the game.”
Evans had missed a couple of games earlier this season due to injury, but has now returned to strengthen the Met lineup ahead of the final.
He even managed to get on the scoresheet against Bala two weeks ago, netting a brace as they ran out 3-0 winners.
And the wide man believes it’s a great time to hit a purple patch ahead of the final.
“It’s about time it started coming round. After the injury at Caernarfon, I had a couple of weeks off of football. But, I’m back now and I feel fresh, I feel fit, ready more than ever.
“In the last couple of games, I’m glad I could show that to the team and to the manager. Coming into the cup final now, it’s a good time to hit form.”
(Featured Image: Will Cheshire)
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