MATCH OF THE ROUND
East Gosford v Southern & Ettalong
East Gosford will look to hold their spot at the top of the table when they welcome third-placed Southern for the round 15 WPL match of the round.
East Gosford’s first win of the season was against Southern all the way back in round 6. Since then, East Gosford has been extremely hard to beat as the Rams have won their last 5 out of 6 games and rightly earnt their spot on top of the WPL ladder. East Gosford will take plenty of confidence out of their away 3-2 over the Lionesses as they look to repeat that result in front of a home crowd this Sunday. A win for Jorge Chavez’s side would give them a very important 4-point gap over Southern who currently sit in third. A narrow 1-0 win over Ourimbah in their last game is a result many thought East Gosford would easily win, so expect the Rams to come out fast this weekend and start on the front foot against the Lionesses.
Jorge Chavez mentions his defence is excited about the challenge of keeping the golden boot leader off the scoresheet this weekend. “After all the rain our girls are super keen for this weekend’s match against a very good team in SEU. Our backline is excited to come up against this year’s golden boot leader Emily Diaz upfront. She has scored over 50% of their goals, hence if we can keep ger goal-less I believe we will go a long way in securing the 3 points and top spot.”
East Gosford will be without star player Jessica Dominello as she remains sidelined from their fixture with Umina Chavez’s stated. “Unlike last time we met, we almost have our full squad to choose from besides Jessica Dominello who is still suffering from a knee injury after being targeted by Umina in our last game. She’s a big loss but with others coming back from injury I am excited about the game.”
Southern & Ettalong will be out to capitalise on the great opportunity to dethrone the league leaders this Sunday. A win for the Lionesses could potentially see them take up the first-place spot on the ladder, depending on other results. However, Southern’s three losses so far this year have all come against teams inside the top four as Marcus Warwick’s side has only recorded wins over the six teams outside of finals contention. With Umina closing in on a finals spot, Southern will need to break this losing record if they wish to play finals come to the end of the season.
Marcus Warwick is anticipating a very tough encounter against the league leaders. “With both teams coming, off a few weeks break due to rain, I think the team to find their groove the quickest will enjoy success. We know East Gosford is a great team, you have to be, to be winning the competition. I expect them to be well structured from the back and use their pace up front to try to get in behind our back line.”
Warwick also suggested that the game could be won or lost inside the opening 15 minutes of the contest. “We just need to break them down, pick apart their strengths, and attack their weaknesses. If we start the game fast and win the first fifteen minutes, we will be victorious.”
MATCH OFFICIAL – John Shaw
Terrigal v Ourimbah
Terrigal will look to keep pressure on the top of the table as the very dominant O’lasses have a golden chance to move up the ladder with a win over Ourimbah this Sunday.
Terrigal remains the only team in the WPL competition that has only seen defeat once this season with their only loss coming at the hands of Umina (2-1). Although Greg Parker and his side have struggled immensely with the momentum of playing time due to the wet weather, this has not seemed to disrupt this title contender team who continue to display brilliant performances whenever they make it on the pitch.
Terrigal recorded a 6-1 win over Ourimbah only a month ago when the two sides met a Pluim Park midweek for their catch-up game. Candice Phelan was once again in tremendous form on that night as she secured a hattrick over the Falcons. Phelan has a total of 16 goals this season as she finds herself second on the golden boot standings. Although Phelan is four goals behind the leader, scoring 3 goals against this outfit earlier in the year will give her confidence to repeat that or possibly do even better this weekend as she looks to reclaim her spot at the top.
After losing their opening three games, Ourimbah picked up their first win of the year with a dominant 7-0 performance over Wyong. Since then, Dave Hurley’s side has failed to get another win under their belts as the Falcons have now lost their last 5 games straight. However, Ourimbah in their last two fixtures has only lost 1-0 to both Killarney and East Gosford. Hurley’s side will take a lot of confidence after only narrowly losing to the league leaders in their last game.
Despite seeing defeat in their fixture against Terrigal, Ourimbah was able to find the back of the net thanks to Emma Hurley. That was Ourimbah’s only goal in a game besides their 7-0 win. Ourimbah has started to perform at a higher level in their last few fixtures and they will be out to further improve their form this weekend as they prepare for another tough battle against Terrigal.
MATCH OFFICIAL – Daryl Webb
Woy Woy v Killarney
Woy Woy has a golden opportunity to jump to first this weekend, but the Roosters must not get ahead of themselves as they prepare for a hungry Terriers outfit in round 15.
Woy Woy currently sits on the same points as first-placed East Gosford but finds themselves below the Rams due to goal difference. With East Gosford scheduled to battle against third-place Southern, this marks as a golden opportunity for Woy Woy to jump back to the top of the ladder if East Gosford drops points. When it comes to kick-off this Sunday, Woy Woy’s last game would have been close to a month prior as Lucy Metcalfe and her side last played on the 19th of June when they lost 2-0 to Woy Woy.
Woy Woy came out 3-0 victors over Killarney when these two sides met back in round 6. On that day, Laura Mundy grabbed a double for her side and Aleah Soames was also on hand to grab herself a goal in that 3-goal win. Woy Woy will also have the luxury of playing at Austin Butler Oval where they maintain a great winning record which they will be looking to extend come Sunday.
After going over 5 rounds without a win, Adam Tait and his side were finally able to get back to winning ways in their last fixture which was a 1-0 win over Ourimbah back in round 12. Killarney started their 2022 campaign undefeated in the opening two rounds before they were handed their first loss at the hands of Woy Woy. The Terriers have a great opportunity to exact revenge on their opposition with a win this weekend.
Killarney, who many thought would be a title contender this season have struggled to live up to expectations on a weekly basis. The Terriers currently sit in seventh place with 9-points and are currently 9 points out of finals contention. However, there is still time for this Killarney side to make a run in the second half of the season and challenge for a spot in the top four. Adam Tait will be hoping this run will start this weekend as they look for a statement win over second-place Woy Woy.
MATCH OFFICIAL – Jeffrey Smith
Umina v Kanwal
A win this weekend for Kanwal will see the Bulls jump to equal points with their round 15 opposition as Umina look to keep within touching distance of the top four with a win themselves.
Umina started the season as WPL favourites after winning the Association Cup and many thought they would carry this unbeaten run for the whole 2022 season. After eight games, Umina finds themselves sitting outside the top four in the fifth spot with a record of 5 wins and 3 losses. Steve Donaldson and his side will be expecting to improve on this record in the second half of the year as the E-Gals still have their sights on finishing at the top of the WPL ladder.
Umina battled Kanwal in their second game of the season and the E-Gals came out 4-1 victors on that occasion. Although Umina won by 3 goals, it was an extremely close and tight encounter and viewers can expect much of the same come Sunday when these two sides meet again. Failure to secure all three points this weekend could see Umina drop seven points behind the league leaders and possibly down to sixth place which could be detrimental to Umina’s season.
It has been a very up and down year so far for Allan Bourke’s Kanwal squad who have not been able to perform consistently on a week-to-week basis. Bourke’s squad defiantly has what it takes to compete among the top this WPL competition has to offer, and they proved that in their last win when they took down Woy Woy 2-0. It all came together for Bourke and his Bulls on that day but in recent weeks they have failed to mirror that performance.
In their last two fixtures, Kanwal has come up against two teams in the top four and saw losses in both encounters. Round 12 saw Kanwal go down 5-1 to Southern and then a few days later in a catch-up game, Kanwal fell by 2 goals to Terrigal. The test only gets tougher for Kanwal come Sunday but a win for the Bulls would see them leap to the same points as Umina and would go a long way for this Kanwal outfit who still want to play finals football at the end of the season.
MATCH OFFICIAL – Graeme Gurr
