THERE'S something magical about a cup tilt and Ballarat City player Lachlan Wright is determined the club's stunning run in the FFA Cup is going to continue past Wednesday night.
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The 20-year-old was the star of the club's first league win at the weekend, setting up the first goal when he was brought down in the penalty area, followed by his own match-winning second half goal which sent his teammates into raptures.
"It was just one of those games," Wright said. "The last few weeks I've been playing a lot of 21s football, but on the weekend I got plunged into the starting line-up, which was a great surprise.
"It was one of those real gritty, intense performances, wasn't pretty, even my goal was deflected, but it was a great result all round for the group."
Ballarat City are in the middle of a run of three games in seven days, with Wednesday night's FFA Cup clash with Clifton Hill the next match on the agenda.
City scored a major boilover in the previous round defeating the highly ranked Altona Magic 1-0. Magic are a club rated one league higher than City. Tonight's opponent is ranked one league lower.
"Without a doubt, everyone loves having a cup run," Wright said.
"I was saying to the boys after our win at the weekend, if you look a the difference between us and Altona Magic, it's the same gap this time around, only we're the higher ranked team.
"It just shows, if we get complacent, we'll get played off the park. So it's critical for us to go in with the same attitude, work hard and show quality as well, anytime you play a state league team you want to show your quality.
"There's momentum at the club, the next week is extremely important. If we can win on Wednesday night, it'll be another opportunity to go up against biggest clubs in Victoria, that always creates an extra buzz."
Wright has been a main stay of the Ballarat City club since the under 12s after joining the club from playing Aussie Rules at Newlyn.
And he knows having seen teammates earn selection on A -league squads, that the pathway is very much there for young players.
"You can't help but think about it, I'm 20 now, so I'm not always on every scout's eyes at this age, but there's always a pathway if you can impress."
The FFA clash is Morshead Park Wednesday. Kick-off at 8pm.