Terrigal v East Gosford
WPL’s two undefeated teams will meet this Sunday for the match of the round as Terrigal welcome 2023 Women’s Association Cup winners East Gosford to Eastern Road Oval.
Although their opposition is also undefeated, Terrigal is the only WPL side that bolsters a perfect winning record in the 2023 competition.
After an influx of new players in 2023 along with new head coach Gab Blanch taking over the reins, this already impressive WPL side looks to be reaching new heights this season as they prepare to face what could be their toughest test yet this weekend.
Terrigal started their season with an extremely impressive 2-1 win over reigning premiers and league champions Umina.
The O’lasses then followed that up with another two wins against Kanwal (2-0) and Killarney (4-0), securing two clean sheets back-to-back as they currently record the equal-best defence in the competition.
Terrigal sat out of the action last week as they had a bye, which according to their coach came at a great time.
“The bye-round actually came at a good time for our squad. We have been nursing quite a number of minor injuries so the week off has been a blessing for us.”
“We have a Sapphire Cup fixture leading into the weekend’s game, we plan to use that to focus on some principles of play, with the aim of rotating as many players to ensure the squad is fresh and raring to go on Sunday,” stated Gab.
Gab also spoke about her team’s morale after their unbeaten start to the season. “Morale is certainly building, we have a happy group of players who are enjoying their football, I believe this is evident in our First and Reserve grade results so far.“
“It is early days though, we have a lot to learn and improve on. We have not yet been able to operate at full capacity so I’m looking forward to seeing how we continue to progress as more players return from injury and other external commitments.”
Terrigal’s unbeaten run has also transferred over to the Sapphire Cup as they welcomed Holroyd Rangers to Pluim Park on Wednesday night and got a 2-0 victory to progress to the next round as they now turn their attention to East Gosford.
“We are looking forward to this one,” spoke Gab. “I expect the game will be fast-paced, and pretty evenly matched. I have great respect for East Gosford, they are coached well, they play organised football and have some top-quality players. Whichever way the result goes, I think this game is guaranteed to be an entertaining fixture!”
It’s been quite the week for Jorge Chavez and his East Gosford squad. Last Tuesday the Rams came up against Umina in the 2023 Association Cup Grand Final and after an intense and close 90 minutes of thrilling action, East Gosford edged out the E-Gals to win 1-0 and take some silverware back to Hylton Moore Oval.
Jorge Chavez also stated that morale within his team has been boosted after their fantastic start to the season.
“The team’s morale is high, as you can expect after an amazing start to our year thus far. We take confidence in the results to date but stay humble and know that we must continue to work hard and improve week in and week out. We have some very good sides in our competition, this is evident with all three teams, us, Terrigal and Umina, making it to the second round of the Sapphire Cup.”
The Rams then backed that performance up with a dominating win over Kincumber last weekend where they defeated the WPL newcomers 7-0.
East Gosford has been a force in front of goals this season, already recording 23 goals to their name after just three rounds.
Kayla Vanderfield is a big part of why they have so much success up front as the clinical goal scorer has recorded five goals to her name in both of her last two matches as she already boasts 10 goals this season.
Before this weekend, East Gosford will be focused on their Round 2 Sapphire Cup fixture as they are set to travel to Many Vale on Thursday night to face Manly Allambie as fatigue may play a factor come Sunday as Terrigal will enter the contest with an extra day of rest.
Jorge knows beating Terrigal will be no easy feat and is well aware of the quality they possess. “It’s still anyone’s season and this weekend’s game against a very talented Terrigal squad is crucial. We expect Terrigal to be our biggest test to date. With both reserve and first grade fighting for first spot on the table.”
“Terrigal can be very direct, with most of their attacks going through Candice so one can fall into the trap of just focusing on her. That’s a dangerous plan as Terrigal have multiple attacking threats, I expect them to come out with a different game plan than what they had last time we met and try and expose our weaknesses. We are all looking forward to two great games come Sunday.”
All Round 6 Fixtures –
