East Gosford v Kanwal
It’s been an extremely busy few weeks for Jorge Chavez’s East Gosford side who have played four games in the past fortnight.
This will mark East Gosford’s first week since the start of the year where they have not played a mid-week fixture.
Nonetheless, the tough schedule has not seemed to affect the Rams who are unbeaten to start the year and also still alive in the inaugural Sapphire Cup.
The Rams will now rest as they prepare for their second match of the round fixture in back-to-back weeks.
“It sure has been a hectic month of football for our squad,” spoke head coach Jorge. “Added to the fact that we seem to face big teams after they are coming off their bye has certainly played a role in our last two performances.”
“Unfortunately, it looks like this weekend we will still not be at full strength with the eight that missed Terrigal’s game still out for this week’s game against Kanwal.”
Last weekend East Gosford faced the only other undefeated WPL team in the competition Terrigal and after a terrific start to the contest, the Rams took a 3-1 lead at halftime.
However, Terrigal managed to mount a comeback as the two sides split the points in a 3-3 draw that was enough for East Gosford to maintain their spot on top of the WPL ladder.
“Nevertheless, everyone in WPL at one stage will be without players, it’s part of the game. That’s why it takes a squad to win in the WPL, and we look forward to the challenge ahead this week against a team that I have admired for years for the style of football they play.”
Since last Sunday, Terrigal have overtaken East Gosford on the table after their win over Kincumber on Wednesday night. This will give the Rams extra incentive as they look to regain their spot at the top.
East Gosford currently maintains the best-attacking record in the comp, registering a total of 26 goals after just 5 games. Kayla Vanderfield has been in tremendous form in front of goals in recent weeks as she scored five goals in back-to-back games which sees her take up the top spot on the golden boot standings.
“You know you’re in for a great game anytime you come up against Kanwal and this weekend won’t be any different,” voiced Jorge when asked about the opposition.
“Our main key to winning this weekend is for us to manage our subs better than what we did last weekend in order to give us enough legs to finish the games strong.”
Despite having the bye last weekend, Kanwal will have minutes under their legs heading into Sunday’s clash after defeating Southern & Ettalong in a mid-week catch-up game on Wednesday night at Pluim Park.
The Bulls showed their class as they were able to dominate the Lionesses and find the back of the net ten times to secure a 10-0 win over last year’s grand finalist.
Kanwal coach Ben Raychaudhuri commented on his team morale ahead of their match of the round fixture. “Moral is really high at the moment. Except for the Kincumber game, our performances have been great and to be honest, above where I expected this early in the year with such a high turnover of players from last season.”
“We’ve beaten last year’s premiers and performed well against one of the teams to beat in Terrigal so there is a quiet confidence in the squad that we aren’t far away from the better teams.”
“Normally I’d say coming off the bye is a good thing as it’s a chance to freshen up the squad as well as rest some little niggles but having to play the Wednesday night before we play East Gosford might negate that,” added Ben.
Following Wednesday night’s round 1 catch-up game, Kanwal now finds themselves in second place as they overtook their match of the round opponents this weekend, East Gosford.
When asked about the opposition, Ben has nothing but high praise for the team and their coaching staff. “I believe East Gosford is the team to beat for this year’s competition. They are well-coached and have quality across the entire park with great depth in their squad. So, we are expecting a real tough game.”
“We will need to be at our best to match it with them, but I know the Kanwal girls are really keen to see where we are in terms of the best teams so it’s a challenge we are looking forward to.”
It seems like Kanwal hit a groove on Wednesday as they will be looking to take that performance into Sunday to secure another three points. However, a win isn’t the main priority for Ben at this stage of the year as he is more focused on the way his team performs week in and week out.
“To be honest, the three points aren’t our focus. As I’ve said numerous times, we are a new squad still learning to play with each other so I’m more focused on the performance and how the girls adapt to not only the game plan but also to any adversity they may face during the game.”
“A good performance will go a long way to a positive result so that will be our focus,” stated Ben.
Match Official – Darryn Eyndhoven
All Round 7 Fixtures –
