Nigel D'Acre has had more partners in life - in the DHL Club midfield, that is - than others. But the inside centre's superb adaptation to constant change has been one reason behind Football Club's resurgence this season, and an area which rivals Asahi Valley will fear when they clash in the First Division Grand Final tomorrow.
'There has not been much stability in midfield this season, with a lot of chopping and changing in personnel. But everyone who has come in has played a role and we have created a good midfield defence,' said D'Acre yesterday.
D'Acre, 29, has missed only one game, the first, for DHL Club this season. The same cannot be said for his partners outside him. Injuries and unavailability have forced coach Andrew Tranent to use no less than five players in this role - Lusiano Afeaki, Warren Warner, Anthony Boyd, Owain Morrison and Brett Shield.
With D'Acre as the constant, Football Club have been fortunate to create a defensive shield that has taken them to within striking range of winning the First Division league title for the first time since the 1998/99 season.
The crucial question now is can this shield nullify the attacking threat posed by Valley's dangerous backline comprising former international stars like Alex Telea and Matt Dowling? And can defence be turned into attack?
D'Acre believes it can. 'If we can put pressure on Valley, who knows what can happen? Maybe there are a couple of guys in the Valley team who have not been put under pressure. They are obviously strong but we have nothing to lose.'
For the first time this season, Tranent will have a full and injury-free squad to choose from. The coach faces a nice problem deciding who should partner D'Acre. Should it be Afeaki or Warner? On the last occasion the two sides met, the midfield combination was D'Acre and Afeaki. Valley scraped to a 14-12 win then, thanks to a last-minute penalty from Carl Murray.
