Dave Goodchild insisted it’s advantage Team Northumbria after the Sport Central club blew away PulsePoint London Orcas in last weekend’s National Cup final dress rehearsal.
The two teams meet in Kettering on Saturday with one of volleyball’s most prestigious prizes up for grabs.
However, Super 8s title winners TN go into the Cup final as hot favourites after defeating the Orcas 3-1 in the final regular season clash of the 2016/17 campaign.
“We went one set down against a team that’s stacked with talent from top to bottom,” said Goodchild. “Orcas are nothing like the side we beat earlier this season.
“However, I wasn’t concerned. In fact I honestly felt it was a good thing that we were down as it gave our players added incentive and totally changed their mindset.
“They were still smarting from the BUCS final defeat to Durham the previous week and going 1-0 down against Orcas sparked the right reaction.
“We wanted to put them in their place ahead of the Cup final and that’s exactly what we did. We weren’t trying to keep anything up our sleeves - we just wanted to go all out for a big win.
“That’s what’s going to stick in the Orcas’ players’ heads all week now. They’ll be dwelling on that defeat and by contrast we know we can beat them if we’re at our best.
“If we’re not, of course, then the orcas are quite capable of beating us on their day.”
TN’s women are chasing a domestic treble with the National Cup and Super 8s playoffs titles in their sights. And the men can still complete the double after wrapping up the regular season title with a win against Solent on the South Coast.
An injury-ravaged TN went down to Wessex 24 hours earlier but only required a point to wrap up the league title.
And Goodchild added: “The guys did the job when it mattered. They knew what they had to do this weekend and they knew they’d be up against it with so many key players out.
“However, I always felt they would get the win we needed against Solent and now we can focus on making the playoff final.
“It will be a fascinating Final Fours with ourselves, Polonia and Sheffield Hallam very much in the mix.
“Polonia have signed one of the best players in the world - Krzysztof Ignaczak - in time for their semi-final series and that changes everything.
“The guy is a current world champion and two-time world player of the year in his position - he’s by far the best player who has ever played club volleyball in this country.
“It’s fantastic for the sport in England but it makes everyone else’s job just that little bit tougher.”
.jpg_62276aa9abc9d.png)
