Sean McManus is confident Bayswater City will complete the job and set a new mark for the club when they meet Wests APIA in the Australian Championship this Sunday.
Baysie require one point from the Round Six game in Sydney to be guaranteed a quarter-final berth. They could have qualification in the bag before kick-off if MetroStars fail to beat Sydney United 58 in an earlier Group D fixture.
Either way, midfielder McManus is under no illusions about what it would mean for them to progress, echoing the sentiments of teammate and club stalwart Jason Mirco.
“Mirco is a legend of Bayswater who’s done it all, and he says this would be the greatest achievement in the club’s history, so who am I to disagree?” McManus said.
“It would certainly be great to do it for the people at the club who put in all the work behind the scenes. They make it so all we have to do is turn up, prepare and play the game. It would be brilliant for those people.”
Bayswater were considered group outsiders before the start of the inaugural National Second Tier competition, drawn alongside a pair of big-hitters from NSW and South Australian league champions MetroStars. But a 100% return from their three home matches has put them within touching distance of a top-two finish.
“Going into the competition, not many people gave us a chance to be where we are,” McManus said.
“But we are there on merit as league champions, not as a foundation club, and now having started so well and come so far, it will be very disappointing if we don’t get through.”
McManus puts much of the team's success down to Bayswater's collective spirit and an all-for-one-one-for-all dynamic.
“The way we play … it gets results. Nine points from nine at home, we’ve won the league, won the Top Four Cup,” said the Scot who is fully recovered from a knee injury picked up earlier in the competition.
“We’re a proper team where everyone contributes. We’re good mates on the pitch, good mates off the pitch, and this goes a long way.
“This is my first year back at Bayswater and it could not have gone better. We only lost two league games, and one of them was the last game after we’d already won the league. It reminds me of when we won the league at Floreat, that same work ethic.
“There’s a good connection with [head coach] Matty Sparrow. In the first training session, he said to us we are here to win things and that’s how it’s worked out.
“Now it’s about getting a result on Sunday.
“For me, MetroStars have been the best team we’ve faced. They play good football. But I’m expecting more from APIA at home than in Perth, so it won’t be easy.
“But whatever the situation, our goal is to go there and win and make the last eight.”
- Sunday's game will be shown live on SBS on Demand and Football Australia YouTube (kick-off 1.30pm WST)
WHO WILL BAYSWATER FACE IF THEY GO THROUGH?
CAN THEY GET A HOME QUARTER-FINAL?
- If a foundation club plays an invitational club, the foundation club will host, regardless of where each team finishes in their group
- If both clubs are foundation clubs, the higher-ranked foundation club will host
- If both clubs are invitational clubs, the higher-ranked invitational club will host