HOCKEY
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University are desperate to maintain the ladder pressure on old rivals Albion Park as the two Illawarra Hockey heavyweight clubs fight it out for top spot.
Albion Park currently hold the advantage, sitting atop the table just one point clear of University.
Robertson and Wests round out the top four, but it looks like the two 2014 grand finalists will fight out the minor premiership.
Uni takes on Falcons this week and coach Nick Jennings says a win is imperative to keep in touch with the leaders.
"It will be a good chance to hopefully pick up some points," Jennings said.
"If our boys can come up with the win that keeps the pressure on Albion Park on the ladder."
University will go into Friday night's clash with Falcons as a short-priced favourite.
They ran out 5-0 winners last time the two clubs met.
But Jennings says the team can't afford to rest on its laurels.
"They tested us for the first 50 or 60 minutes last time and we got on top at the end of the game," he said.
"We've got a bit to work on.
"We're still working on our structure, trying to get that down pat and working on our basics game to game."
University scored a nail-biting victory over Robertson last week as the latter's coach Nathan Wright scored a double to give his side their best chance of an upset.
But Uni prevailed 3-2 with three different goal scorers.
"It was a pretty tough win actually," Jennings said.
"We sort of grinded it out, they're a pretty good opponent Robertson, so it was a good test.
"They were up for probably the first 30 minutes, it was a pretty even contest, then we scored three goals in 10 minutes to get on top."
University is missing Kookaburras representative Tristan White as he prepares for the World League series in Europe, but are otherwise full strength for Friday's game.
Albion Park, meanwhile, will be looking to continue a strong patch of form when they take on Wests on Sunday.
Albion Park scored a dominant 9-0 win over Dapto last week, even without gun goal scorer Blake Govers.