Sunday’s game against The Entrance at the Maitland Hockey Centre may play an important part in determining where the Rams finish on the Newcastle Hockey ladder at the end of the season, even though the finals are still more than a month away.

At the moment Maitland is two points clear of its Central Coast rivals after an emphatic 8-2 victory over Wests, but Rams coach Peter Lovell wants to stretch the gap out even further.

Last time the two teams met the fixture petered out to a 2-2 draw after a late Rams revival.

“Last time they played with patience and stuck to us – we didn’t play well until the last 15 minutes,” Lovell said.

A win against The Entrance would give them a four-point breathing space.

The Rams want to finish at least third on the Newcastle Hockey ladder and score the home semi-final that comes with it.

The team desperately wants to avoid heading to the Central Coast – a ground where they have a dismal record – for the semi-finals.

Maitland’s 8-2 result over Wests will buoy the team for their outing against The Entrace.

“We’ll take a bit out of it. We showed a bit of heart and some good defence and that we know how to score goals,” Lovell said.

“A few of the guys had really good games last week so should be feeling confident.

“The goal difference was good because it puts us about 11 or so in front of them.

“We’ve got a fair bit of depth and some young guys who can step up for the team.

“We’ll have to be patient and mark it up.”

The team will be without regular skipper Peter Urquhart again on Sunday.

He missed the team’s last game against Wests due to suspension, and this weekend he’ll be out due to his representative duties with NSW Country.

It also looks like the Rams will be missing Alex Kinsey after he was handed two yellow cards in the game against Wests.

“It will be a dour struggle,” Lovell said.