MATCH OF THE ROUND
Terrigal v Woy Woy
Terrigal look to get back to winning ways when they welcome a dangerous Woy Woy side to Eastern Road Oval for the round 18 match of the round.
Terrigal had a golden opportunity this past Wednesday to climb over Umina and go a point clear over the E-Gals but the O’lasses were unable to hold onto an early 1-0 lead as they conceded two straight goals to Killarney and lost 2-1. This served as Terrigal’s second loss this season but with a game still in hand over first place Umina, a win in that make-up game would see Gregory Parker’s side overtake their rivals and go to the top of the competition once again. Terrigal now have the tough task of picking themselves back up and get back to winning ways when they face another finals favourite in Woy Woy. When these two sides met earlier in the year it was Terrigal who put on a dominant performance and defeated this Roosters side 4-0. Gregory Parker and assistant Peter Blair will be hoping their squad can put together a similar show this weekend and walk away victorious.
Despite claiming that 4-goal win over them already this season, Gregory Parker is preparing his side for a tough battle against Woy Woy. “We always look forward to playing Woy Woy in another tough encounter. The football is always of a very good standard. We have many difficult games ahead and will be taking one game at a time. Spots in the top four is still up for grabs with six games to go for us.”
Woy Woy feature in the match of the round for the second straight week. Last weekend’s fixture against Umina saw Lucy Metcalfe’s side concede three unanswered goals to fall 3-0 to the current league leaders. Although the scoreline finished at 3-0, the game itself was a lot closer than the scoreline suggest and the finals two goals came late in that contest. Last weekend marked Woy Woy’s third loss of the season as the Roosters now find themselves hanging on to the fourth spot. In all three of their losses this season, Woy Woy have been unable to find the back of the net in any of those games which goes on to suggest that if they can score, they can win. With the top five teams so close in the WPL competition this season, a win this weekend would see Woy Woy go level on points with Terrigal, but a loss could be detrimental and see them drop out of a finals spot.
“After a tough loss last week, my girls will be ready for another big hit out, hopefully come game day we have the right attitude and complacency to take home the win which may see us continue in that top four,” said Lucy Metcalfe.
MATCH OFFICIAL – John Shaw
Wyong v Ourimbah
Ourimbah will look to do the double-over Wyong and pick up their first back-to-back wins of the season this Sunday when these to sides face at Ourimbah Oval.
After their devastating 21-0 loss to Umina in round 16, Wyong was able to strengthen their performance when they took on former league leaders Terrigal the following week and only fell by 10 goals. This weekend Wyong welcome Ourimbah to Baker Park as they look to upset the competition with their first win of the season. Wyong’s smallest loss of the year was in their fixture against the Falcons which will give the Emu’s plenty to look forward to on Sunday.
Wyong, who was supposed to play Umina mid-week unfortunately had to forfeit that fixture as Andrew Halton’s small squad couldn’t make up the numbers through injury and sickness. Halton will be hoping he has as many players as possible available for this important clash, but history suggests it will be the same 16 players who will be faced with the difficult task of playing two games.
Ourimbah enters round 18 coming off their second win of the season after they successfully defeated the Bulls 1-0 last weekend. After three 1-0 losses on the trot, Dave Hurley’s side was able to find themselves on the correct end of a 1-0 scoreline, thanks to a Nyah Small goal in the second half. This was their first win since round 9 when they got their initial win of 2022 by defeating this week’s opposition 7-0.
These two teams met for Ourimbah’s fourth fixture and up until that game, Ourimbah had been unable to find the back of the net in their three previous games. However, that all changed when they welcomed Wyong to Ourimbah Oval and scored seven unanswered goals to claim the win. After their tremendous performance last weekend, Ourimbah will enter this weekend with plenty of confidence as they look to pick up their second straight result.
MATCH OFFICIAL – Darryn Eyndhoven
Kanwal v East Gosford
After their disappointing and shock loss last weekend, Kanwal looks to get their season back on track when they face off against East Gosford this Sunday.
After having a 1-1 draw with the former league leaders Terrigal in round 16, many thought that would be the turning point in the Bull’s season as Allan Bourke’s squad were hoping for a final’s push. However, many were surprised the following week when Kanwal fell 1-0 to Ourimbah who only had one win recorded to their name before kick-off. Despite having close to 80% of possession in that fixture, Kanwal just couldn’t find the back of the net as they left that fixture empty-handed.
Inconsistency has been the story throughout the majority of Kanwal’s season and once again last weekend this proved to be the case. Kanwal will be hungry to get back on the pitch and right their wrongs, especially on their home soil at Wadalba Sports Complex where the Bulls maintain a decent record of results. On their day Kanwal has what it takes to match it with any other side in the WPL and will be out to prove that once again as they look to dehorn the Rams.
East Gosford finally got back on the pitch last Sunday after their shock 5-1 loss to Southern Ettalong in round 15. In that fixture, the Rams started the better of the two teams and took an early lead but then went on to concede five straight goals to see their third loss of the season. After missing out on playing the following week, the Rams got back to winning ways when they defeated Killarney 2-1 last weekend.
East Gosford entered that fixture with Killarney with quite a different starting eleven on the park and it showed as the Rams took some time to play as their normal selves. Jorge Chavez’s side was able to hold on to their 2-1 lead at halftime and see the remainder of the game out to claim their seventh win of the season and evidentially re-join the top four. East Gosford will now look to hold their spot on the ladder as they travel to enemy territory and try to repeat their 2-0 win over Kanwal from earlier in the season.
MATCH OFFICIAL – Christopher Pearce
Umina v Southern Ettalong
Enjoying their fifth straight home game, Umina will look to hold their first-place spot as the E-Gals try and avenge their loss to Southern from earlier in the season.
Umina enter their important round 18 clash against Southern as league leaders for the first time this season. The E-Gals were supposed to face Wyong this past Tuesday night but because the Emu’s forfeited that contest and as a result Umina was handed a 4-0 win which evidentially propelled Steve Donelson’s side into first place. After their rivals Terrigal failed to beat Killarney in their mid-week catch-up game, Umina still hold their spot at the top of the throne.
Umina will be looking to avenge their loss against Southern when these two sides battled it out for ninety minutes in a tough and gruelling game which saw Southern Ettalong walk away 1-0 victors. However, Umina’s record at their home ground this season has been impenetrable as the E-Gals are yet to lose at Umina Oval which will give this side even more confidence to continue their five-game winning streak.
Fresh of the bye, a well-rested Southern Ettalong will be eager to get back on the pitch and re-claim a spot inside the top four with a win this weekend. Marcus Warwick’s side is coming off three straight wins where they have scored 5-goals in each of those fixtures as they look to only be getting only more dangerous in front of goal as the season progresses.
A lot of these goals have come via Emily Diaz who records over half of her team’s goals this year with 23 individual goals to her name. Diaz will be hungry to keep this form going as she has been dethroned as the golden boot leader by Terrigal’s Candice Phelan. But Southern will be up against the second-best defensive team in the league come Sunday and goal-scoring chances may be hard to come by. Southern knows what it takes to beat this Umina outfit and will be looking for a similar fortune as their last meeting come kick-off.
MATCH OFFICIAL – Graeme Gurr
