Umina v Killarney
Both coming off a win midweek, Umina and Killarney will clash this Sunday for the round 7 match of the round as the E-Gals will look to build momentum for their season as Killarney will be looking to make a statement to the rest of the competition.
After having last weekend’s fixtures washed out for our WPL competition, these two sides were able to get some much-needed game time under their legs on Tuesday night as the rescheduled round 1 fixtures took place at Pluim Park.
Umina met the stern test of Kincumber and after ninety minutes and five goals, Michael Penn’s side walked away with a 3-2 win over the Roos’ for their second win of the season.
Entering round 7, the E-Gals find themselves sitting in third place and although it’s only early stages of the competition, Umina will want to finish the season in a similar position and play finals football once again.
As head coach Penn has stated in the past, this year is serving as a transition year for the club which have said goodbye to many key players this year who were a part of Umina’s trophy-winning sides.
Penn touched on this again stating, “Our team has undergone radical player attrition, so we are basically starting from scratch in our rebuild. Developing a structure and strategy that complements our skill base and constantly reviewing what does and doesn’t work is an ongoing process for us.”
Penn also reflected on the start of the season and how the competition is playing out. “For me, there was an expectation that the dominant teams from last season would continue their dominance and the rest to make challenges.”
“This is occurring as expected. However, I feel the league is there to be won and as improvements are made by teams over the season I expect more teams to challenge for the top position”
All teams have been heavily affected by the recent wet weather and the difficulties that brings to a team with a discontinuous training and playing schedule.
With such a stop-start beginning to the season, Umina will need their experienced players to lead the way as points could be hard to come by and they will need to be at their best every time they step on the pitch.
Captain Chelsea Campbell and prolific striker Kate Styles are two big names that can set the foundations for this rebuild, leading by example week in and week out.
“When attempting to build a foundation for a successful team, consistency in training is important. With the lack of training grounds during preseason and wet weather ground closures early in the season obviously impacts that training,” described Penn.
“Therefore, learning and amending strategies have to occur during the season’s games, which in turn takes longer than desired to achieve outcomes.”
When questioned about what he anticipates from the opposition come Sunday, Penn voiced Killarney are a competitive side, but the focus will be on his team and making sure they carry out the gameplan which will hopefully lead to all three points.
“We played Killarney in the preseason cup and drew 2-2. I expect them to try and capitalise on any of our mistakes as would any of our competition. I expect them to also attempt to close us down quickly and try to stifle our game.”
“Our focus will be on playing as a unit, supporting each other, minimising our mistakes and taking our chances when created.”
Killarney will be still feeling the highs of their inaugural win this season as they also won their rescheduled round 1 fixture on Tuesday night at Pluim Park defeating Kanwal 3-1.
Aleisha Radford, Kirsten Barrett, and Olivia Jones were all on the scoresheet mid-week for the Terriers as new head coach Jai Menser achieved his inaugural WPL win since joining the club at the start of the season.
Having not won a single game in the entire 2023 season, Killarney will be determined to build on this result and prove that under Menser they are a new side with high ambitions and the quality to match what they are trying to achieve together as a playing group.
When asked just how much a win means to the team, assistant Lachlan Mackett vocalised “It felt absolutely unreal. The girls earned that, and we are so proud of their efforts so far. It’s only the first of many this year and they deserved that result and despite the short turnaround to Sunday will be hungry for more.”
“It’s great to see the girl’s efforts paying off after a tough few years and it’s so rewarding to see them finally succeeding given the effort and discipline they’ve shown to get to where they are now.”
Killarney has had by far the hardest opening two fixtures in the competition. They started the year welcoming the reigning premiers East Gosford who handed them a 6-0 loss.
Their second fixture of the year didn’t come any easier as they faced the defending league champions Terrigal who kept Killarney scoreless once again to secure a 2-0 victory.
When reflecting back on these games, Jai Menser gave his opinion on what his team could improve on. “Football is a ninety-minute game, and we get punished if we stop working for the entire ninety.”
Mackett also has his say on their opening fixtures. “I think we are improving significantly in our transition and are looking dangerous as a squad, so I hope to see that continue to trend upwards and put away plenty of goals this weekend.”
“Every one of the girls has stepped up when required this year and we’re looking forward to seeing them continue to improve each week.”
Now with their attention turned to Umina, Menser is preparing his side for another close encounter with the E-Gals just like their pre-season contest. “To get the three points we need to recover well from Tuesday night’s game, keep executing our style of play & continuously working for the entire match.”
“We anticipate a good contest. It was a good contest in preseason, and we expect the exact same again on Sunday.”
Match Official – Jeffrey Smith
All Round 7 Fixtures –
