Sam Gallaway says he relishes the combative nature of F3 Derbies and is eagerly anticipating this Saturday’s showdown.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets defender Sam Gallaway says he relishes the combative nature of F3 Derbies and is eagerly anticipating this Saturday-s showdown with the Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium.
The F3 Derby has earned a reputation for being one of the more fiery fixtures on the Hyundai A-League calendar ever since Mariners striker Nik Mrdja broke the leg of former Jets player Andrew Durante in a pre-season fixture in 2005.
Gallaway said there was still no lost between the fierce local rivals and he expected more of the same come Saturday.
“Everyone lifts a bit for the F3 Derby, there-s always a bit more aggression and a few more yellow cards thrown around,” Gallaway said.
“I like those kinds of games, I like to get stuck in, so bring it on.”
The Jets will be desperate to avenge the 3-0 loss they suffered when the two side slast met in Round 16.
Gallaway believes he and his teammates are in a good position to do so after winning three of their past four Hyundai A-League matches.
“There-s a good vibe around the team,” Gallaway said.
“Obviously we-ve had two good wins on the trot and we-ve got the big derby this week, so hopefully we get another one.
“I don-t think we-ve had a loss as bad this year as our last game against the Mariners and especially in a Derby game, you don-t want to lose those and definitely not 3-nil.
“The goals we copped were good goals, but in saying that we didn-t play the best.
“We really need to lift for this weekend and hopefully we can turn that result around and give our Members something to cheer.”
The Jets have the opportunity to leapfrog the Mariners into the top six and climb to as high as fourth position on the ladder with a win on Saturday.
“We want to keep climbing that ladder, especially with the finals coming up,” Gallaway said.
“There-s only five games to go and we really need to step it up.
“The table is so close that if we win on the weekend, we could be in fourth spot, so we want to keep progressing and a win on the weekend will help us do that.”
