East Gosford v Umina
These two sides meet for the third time this season as East Gosford will be looking to repeat their Association Cup Grand Final result and defeat the E-Gals in the round 10 match of the round.
East Gosford will enter this weekend fresh off their bye as the Rams look to maintain their unbeaten start to the WPL season and pick up their sixth win of the year.
As a result of the bye and Kanwal picking up a 3-2 win over Kincumber, East Gosford has dropped down a spot on the ladder as they now sit third, six points clear of fourth place Umina. A win this weekend for East Gosford will see them move a massive nine points ahead of the reigning premiers.
Umina helped out the Rams last weekend as the E-Gals were able to walk away with a point against current league leaders Terrigal which will allow East Gosford to go on equal points as the O’lasses if they can win their games in hand.
The bye also saw Rams leading goal scorer, Kayla Vanderfield, lose her top spot on the golden boot standings as her current tally of 11 goals has been bested by Jordan Evans of Kanwal who currently sits on 13.
Kayla will be looking to keep her fantastic run of form going this weekend against very stern opposition in the hopes of trying to reclaim her title as WPL leading goal scorer.
Having beaten Umina already this season in the Association Cup to be crowned the winners, East Gosford will be out to repeat that performance again at Pluim Park come Sunday.
East Gosford’s Jorge Chavez spoke on the opposition and what he is expecting from Umina come Sunday. “Coming off a bye we feel well rested and hungry for a big game on Sunday at Pluim Park against reigning champs in Umina, we know it’s going to be a tough game.”
“I don’t expect Umina to change much of their tactics, they will come out and play a really solid game as they have the squad to do so. I look forward to a good game that will be pivotal for both teams on where they finish at the end of the season.”
Despite sitting inside a finals spot in fourth place, reigning league champions and premiers Umina will be looking to make a statement this weekend when they look to hand the Rams their first loss of the season.
Umina head coach Steve Donaldson spoke on their slow start to the season as he states they are improving week by week as the season goes on.
“Morale is gradually increasing off a result we were all content with on the weekend.”
“It’s been a tough start to the year, even before any results. With half a squad of new players who are still gelling, we’re looking to get better as the weeks go by.”
Although the E-Gals recorded a loss to East Gosford in the Cup Final, when these two sides met in the league the contest ended in a 1-1 draw after an extremely close 90 minutes of football in which Umina came from behind against 10 players to salvage a point for themselves.
Umina will be looking for some redemption this weekend after losing out on silverware the last time these two sides faced. With the contest being played at Pluim Park, Steve and his squad have a tremendous record here in recent years, including last year’s WPL Grand Final where they came out triumphant winners.
Although there are still many games to play in the 2023 season, if Umina wishes to reclaim their title of league champions, a win this weekend will go a tremendous way towards achieving that goal.
“East Gosford are largely different, and much stronger squad than last year who have benefited off the competition shrinking in size. I anticipate a pretty full-on game from the get-go like it was last time at home,” voiced Steve.
“The key for this weekend will be the one-on-one matchups. We have to be on the front foot and trust in our game. For the first time this season, we have a full squad, bar maybe one in reserves, so we hope this can be the game to kick start our season.”
Match Official – David Hughes
All Round 10 Fixtures –
