FOOTBALL - Force face `absolute battle'

North Force are where they wanted to be at the start of their first season in the inaugural US1 Premiership - in the top four.
But Mark Ruddell, one of their new breed of players, says now there's another objective to aim at.
The club finished third in the league competition and now line up against Glenfield Rovers on Sunday at Kamo in the minor semifinal of the President's Cup, knowing only their best will be good enough against this weekend's visitors.
"We've already achieved what we hoped for but now we've got greater expectations because we've seen how good we can really be," Ruddell said.
The left midfielder played for the reserve team last season before going on to earn plaudits as North Force's most improved player.
This year he has become one of their mainstays with his trademark runs up the left flank becoming one of the team's best attacking weapons and earning him a trial with English championship side Crystal Palace later in the year.
North Force has displayed some erratic form in the league this year but Rovers, after a poor start to the season - a 1-2 defeat to North Force at Tikipunga - have recruited some key players and improved steadily. North Force discovered just how much they had improved when they copped a 0-6 thrashing at McFetridge Park in the second round.
Rovers also made it through to this year's Chatham Cup semifinal, but Ruddell said North Force were concentrating on their own game and would play to their strengths.
"Finishing third has really helped us because we play a lot better at home than we do away, we know we're good enough to beat them, if we can play like we know we can," the 18-year-old said.
A win on Sunday will see them go head-to-head for a place in the final against the loser of the major semifinal between East Coast Bays and Waitakere tomorrow in Auckland. The winner will go straight through to the final, with the eventual champion earning a trip to Queensland to play the Brisbane club champions at the end of September.
North Force coach Dean Wheatley said Sunday's match would be one of the biggest in Whangarei in recent years.
"It's going to be an absolute battle and if we're mentally tough enough, we can come through it," he said.
Wheatley believes defence will hold the key to winning.
"If we can stop them playing their natural attacking game we'll be okay; I don't think we'll have much trouble creating chances, their centrebacks aren't the quickest and I don't think we'll have any trouble getting in behind them," he said.
Wheatley said Ruddell would once again be a trump card, with the young player displaying the kind of raw talent that could see him play professionally.
"If you look at the left backs playing in the (English) premier league, there's no reason Mark can't aspire to that and Neil Warnock, at Palace, is the sort of manager that might want to develop a player like Ruddell," he said
The trial at Palace has certainly given Ruddell the incentive to be at his best for his big chance.
"I'm super-excited about it, it will be a great experience at the very least, to see what the standard is really like over there and how much I need to improve to fit in," he said.
Sunday's match kicks off at Kamo at 2pm. There are two other big matches for Whangarei teams this weekend, with Madhatters visiting Tikipunga to play in the Northland men's premier knockout plate final at 2.45pm tomorrow, while Kamo travel to play Waitakere's first division side at Fred Taylor Park in the semifinal of the US1 Federation Cup.