They may be the longest shots of the eight teams heading into tomorrow's Chatham Cup quarter-finals but Manukau City are determined to repay the faith of supporters who have bankrolled their expensive trip to Dunedin.
City coach Ricky Espinoza is determined he and his players will leave nothing in the tank in their bid to reach the cup semifinals for the second time when they square-off against Caversham at Dunedin's Caledonian ground. Hit with costs of around $11,000 for the trip, Espinoza has been overwhelmed with the response from the supporters who have rallied to the cause. Life members Barry and Maria Gratwick, who will be with the team on their flight south this morning, have chipped in with a decent chunk of the costs facing the club after New Zealand Football contributed $5000.
"Rob Ewen, through his company Mr Vintage, has supplied the team with clothing including gloves and jumpers as we know just how cold it can be in Dunedin," said Espinoza. "We have had support in many ways including Sacred Heart College who have helped us out with a training ground."
Despite his team's lowly position in the second division of the Northern Regional League, Espinoza is confident they can beat the odds and win through to the next round.
"We are always confident of beating any team we come up against but our season-long problem is in not taking the goal-scoring chances we create. We are definitely capable of playing football. I just hope it is on Sunday."
