Terrigal v East Gosford
In a rematch of last year’s Grand Final, League Champions Terrigal and East Gosford will headline the pinnacle WPL Fixture of the year as the Tords will look to make amends for last year’s result and be crowned Premiers but need to get past the daring task of the Rams who look to create more history by going back-to-back.
It has been another dominant year for Gab Blanch and her Terrigal side. In just her second year in charge, Blanch has led this side to two straight League Championships, even more impressively they have only lost two fixtures in the last two years.
Despite this dominant run where they have turned themselves into the WPL powerhouse we know them as, Terrigal’s first loss came when it mattered the most, in last year’s Grand Final encounter with the Rams.
Terrigal made it well known at the start of the season that they wanted the title of Premiers after coming so close last year and they have put in the work to earn them another spot at being crowned Premiers on Saturday.
Speaking about what this means to her and the club, Blanch voiced, “It means a great deal. The girls have proven their consistency two years in a row. I’m so proud of our journey and the progress we’ve made in two years.”
Blanch also shared what she learnt from the experience last year, “We learnt that anything could happen on grand final day. We can choose to remain in control, or we can let the hype of the day get the better of us.”
This Saturday will mark the fifth time this season these two clubs have gone to battle. Terrigal have come out victorious on four of those occasions with their most recent victory over the Rams coming two weeks ago when they faced off in the 2024 Major Semi-Final.
As anticipated, it was an extremely close contest between the two sides who looked to book their place in this week’s grand final. After going down a goal in the second half, Terrigal rallied together and found an equaliser through Tahlor Thackray before the final whistle to send the game into extra time.
It was here another former East Gosford player found the back of the net as Maddie Yates devastated her former teammates with the game-winning goal for Terrigal. We questioned her if she would look to change anything as Blanch gets ready to face this outfit for a third straight time.
“A few changes are in order but for the most part, the focus is on our strengths, we just aim to do them better than we did two weeks ago.”
Blanch was in attendance for last week’s Final between Kincumber and East Gosford, stating “Last weekend highlighted that East Gosford show up a very different team to us. It was a competitive match, though I felt the result could have gone either way.”
Blanch also added what her side will need to do to be crowned Premiers on the weekend. “We need to keep our heads, remember what we’ve done all year to get to this day, and just take every opportunity that we create.”
Once again East Gosford have had to do things the hard way on their path to their second consecutive WPL Grand Final. After losing in extra time to Terrigal, the Rams faced off with competition underdogs Kincumber the following week and outclassed the Roos claiming a 3-1 victory.
In what will be a very emotional game for Jorge Chavez as he leaves the Rams next year to pursue coaching in other sports, Chavez mentioned what back-to-back Grand Finals means to him and his club.
“This means everything to me, to be able to lead this squad to another Grand Final and go back-to-back, especially after the year we have had with so many players leaving. We have gelled together and have shown what East Gosford Football Club is all about. It will mean the world to me to go out on a high in my last game as head coach of the Rams.”
Despite boasting a competitive squad with great depth, Chavez mentioned that a few key players are in doubt for the game after coming off with injuries the week prior against Kincumber.
“We do have Jessica Dominello and Emma Hurley going into the game fifty-fifty, we also have another player definitely out, this might change how we come out, but I have faith in the squad, every player has shown they are capable of starting or coming off the bench to make a big impact so no matter what we will be ready.”
There is no question that these two teams deserve to be the ones headlining this weekend as they constantly bring the best out of each other. Coming off two straight defeats to Terrigal in their last two meetings, Chavez suggests they will be switching things up on Saturday to ensure they claim victory.
“Every game against Terrigal has been a learning curve, we learn about ourselves, about what worked and didn’t work. We will be making sure we make some changes and tweaks to ensure we come away with the win on the weekend.”
“We know the kind of pressure Terrigal is under, I’ve been there and done that after losing a Grand Final you come back the following year and everything goes through your head if we should change things or do things differently and you start to second guess a lot of stuff so we know they will be under a little bit of pressure.”
In order for his side to reclaim the title of Premiers, Chavez needs his side to be switched on from the first whistle until the last as they look to create more history for the East Gosford Rams.
“We need to make sure we match the intensity at the beginning, if we score an early goal and put some doubt into their heads it will go a long way.”
“It going to be a huge weekend for East Gosford’s women’s football, we have First Grade and All Age 1’s in the Grand Final for the first time in the club’s history so hopefully we can win both and continue to create records at our club.
“To achieve that we have to make sure we are on our game, play the football we have been playing all year, trust each other, play for each other like we always have and no matter what happens I’ll be a proud coach at the end of the game.”
Match Official – Hugo Fonseca
Grand Final Fixture –
