MATCH OF THE ROUND
Kanwal v Southern & Ettalong
Our opening WPL Match of the Round sees Kanwal welcoming Southern & Ettalong to Wadalba Sports Complex. After weeks of delay, our WPL competition is finally set to kick off with a great deal of action in store for the year ahead.
Kanwal enter the opening week having already picked up a very dominant performance over their opponents Southern in the Association Cup. On that day, Kanwal walked away 11-0 victors over the Lions.
Kanwal welcome a new head coach for the 2022 season in Allan Bourke. Bourke has very high praises for his 2022 Bulls side who started their 2021 WPL campaign in a very powerful manner as he looks to repeat those performances again in 2022. Despite losing a few key players from their team last year, Bourke has done a tremendous job recruiting more than adequate players who will look to replace those that have left.
Bourke insist that despite the weather playing a big part on the season, he is positive his team has what it takes this year to make finals football. “This preseason, like all teams has been affected by the rain. In saying that we are looking more and more organised each week and hopefully setting us up for a good start to the season. Our aim like every year is to make it to the top 4, I’m extremely confident that this will be achieved.”
Southern & Ettalong will enter the 2022 season with Augusto Terra in charge for another year. Southern’s Association Cup run has been heavily affected by injuries and illness as the Lionesses failed to score a single goal in all 3 of their games whilst conceding 15 goals over those 3 games.
Southern will look to put those results behind as they focus on the future starting with a dangerous Bulls side this weekend. Despite the result against Kanwal in the cup, Southern picked up an impressive 1-0 win over the Bulls in Round 2 last year so they will take confidence from that result as they attempt to snatch 3 points away from home this weekend.
“The team is shaping up well. We have worked well during preseason and will be ready for our first game. We have good teams in the competition, but I believe we will be very competitive and try to be amongst the top 4,” voiced Terra.
East Gosford v Umina
2022 Women’s Association Cup Winners Umina will now look to carry their momentum into the season as they travel to Hylton Moore to face the Rams this Sunday.
Jorge Chavez will take the reins of East Gosford once again this year. In spite of falling short in all 3 of their Association Cup games, you can make a case that The Rams faced the three hardest teams in their group and were competitive in all of their matches.
East Gosford’s squad will look a little different for the year ahead. Although they have lost some key players, this has allowed Jorge to promote from within and these youngsters will be looking to make a statement come Sunday against competition favourites Umina.
Steve Donaldson’s Umina is without a doubt the team to beat this year in the WPL competition. The Association Cup Winners only conceded 1 goal in all four of their fixtures whilst scoring a massive 20 goals in those four matches. The E-Gals are set to get their season off to a fast start and will take even more confidence after beating East Gosford in round 3 last year 2-0.
Umina’s long-time rivals Gosford are no longer participating in the WPL competition for the upcoming season, but Umina will have to be at their best each and every week if they wish to challenge for the League Champions in 2022. Umina will be hoping their main striker Kate Styles will pick up where she left off last year, scoring 14 goals in just 9 rounds for the E-Gals.
Woy Woy v Wyong
Woy Woy looks to get their inaugural WPL campaign off to a flying start as they welcome Wyong to Austin Butler Oval.
Woy Woy, who will be under the reins of coach/player Lucy Metcalfe, hopes to start their first WPL fixture off with a win over Wyong. Woy Woy had one win over Southern (1-0) and one loss to Killarney (2-1) in their Association Cup fixtures. A lot is unknown about how this Woy Woy side will perform this year as they boast plenty of WPL premiers in their squad that could make this side challenge for finals football.
One of their biggest names that they were able to attract away from Gosford is Madelene Yates who could not be stopped in front of goal last year before the season was cancelled. Yates scored an incredible 11 goals for Gosford last season and Woy Woy will be hoping she can recreate that form in front of goal for them starting Sunday.
Wyong’s coach from last year Paul Halton has handed head coach duties over to his son Andrew for the upcoming season. Wyong entered WPL for the first time in their history last season and it took them quite a while to adapt to the pace and standard of the competition.
The Emu’s had a far from ideal Association Cup run, seeing defeat in all of their fixtures. Although preseason results weren’t absolute, Halton’s squad will be a lot more prepared for what to expect this time around in the WPL competition and securing a win away from home in their opening fixture would send a warning to the rest of the competition.
Ourimbah v Killarney
Killarney will look to retain their unbeaten preseason form into this weekend as they battle WPL newcomers Ourimbah at Ourimbah Oval.
Dave Hurley’s Ourimbah will kick off their inaugural WPL season in front of a home crowd as they try to stop Killarney’s great run of form in its tracks. Despite being the Falcon’s first year in WPL, they boast plenty of WPL experience in their squad with the majority of their players, including the coach, spending the last few years playing for Woongarrah.
Hurley along with his squad find themselves with a new home for the 2022 season and are very excited to get their season off to a fast start. Ourimbah had a mixed bag of results in their Association Cup campaign finishing with one win, one draw, and one loss record.
Killarney are shaping up to be one of the competition’s best this year after a fantastic Association Cup run. The Terriers won all of their games finishing with 7 goals in three games and only conceding 2 goals in those fixtures. The Terriers were very unlucky not to make the Grand Final, narrowly missing out due to goal difference
Adam Tait remains Killarney’s head coach for the season ahead as he looks to take them to finals football and challenge amongst the other top team for titles at the end of the year. WPL is shaping up to be a very tough and competitive season and there is no doubt you can expect to see Tait’s side in contention toward the end of the year.
