PRELIMINARY FINAL
East Gosford 3 – 0 Kincumber
For the third straight year the Rams are off to the WPL Grand Final, booking their place in the biggest showdown in Women’s football on the Central Coast, thanks to a clinical 3-goal victory over Kincumber.
The affair between East Gosford and Kincumber started as an extremely cagey one as both sides looked to settle into their early rhythm while also being very cautious of making any early mistakes. It is very evident why these two had some of the best defensive records in the league as chances were hard to come by in the opening stages.
East Gosford’s Niesha Monteleone would record the first chance on goal as her shot from distance almost bested the opposition goalkeeper, but Heidi Cullen was up to the task, parrying the shot over the bar to deny Niesha the opening goal.
Up the other end of the park, Tamara Forster had the opening chance for Kincumber but was unable to repeat last week’s incredible goal as her powerful shot from out wide hit the outside netting, firing an early warning shot to the Rams’ number 1.
With both defences still managing to keep the play in front of them, any chances at either end came from long attempts on goal including a free kick from Annika Hansen but again Cullen was able to claim the ball in goal for the Roos.
However, Hansen did have a part to play in the opening goal of the game which saw the Rams take a 1-0 lead.
28 minutes into the contest, a pinpoint corner delivered by Annika found the head of Niesha who wouldn’t be denied this time, heading home with a powerful effort on goal.
Kincumber looked for a quick response, but it was East Gosford who continued to press the Roos whenever they had the ball, forcing turnovers and limiting the opposition’s chances of finding an equaliser.
East Gosford continued their tremendous start to the game with Emma Hurley also knocking on the door of Kincumber’s goal as she looked to double the lead for her side, but it was going to take something special for the Rams to find another goal against a determined Kincumber backline.
Neither side was able to create any more clear-cut chances on goal as both teams headed into the sheds with the score still at 1-0 in favour of East Gosford.
East Gosford started the second period where they finished off the first, attacking the Kincumber goal in search of that elusive and crucial second goal.
Kincumber looked dangerous from set-pieces with Jasmine Beacroft trying her luck from distance, but she was unable to break the brick wall of Rams keeper Jessica Dobis.
It was a very tense midfield battle as the game became quite the end-to-end showdown, and with only one goal separating the two sides, it looked like something special was needed to change that.
Up stepped Jess Dominello on the half-hour mark of the second stanza. Dominello looked to play a one-two with attacking counterpart Kelly Hogan, but it was intercepted and the ball landed back at her own feet.
Dominello decided to take matters into her own hands, riffling a looping shot with her left foot from outside the box, catching the goalie off guard as the ball dipped into the back of the net.
Less than two minutes later Dominello was on the scoresheet again, dealing the final blow for Kincumber in this do-or-die fixture. Jess hunted down a Roos centre back and was able to intercept the ball to put herself in on goal.
With defensive cover on its way, Dominello evaded a final tackle to set herself up one-on-one as she tucked the ball home into the bottom corner, extending the Rams’ lead to 3-0.
With their season and a Grand Final place on the line, Kincumber played until the final whistle, but it was to be East Gosford’s day as they will now face undefeated League Champions Killarney next weekend for the crown of 2025 WPL Premiers.
John Jiggins kept his post-match comment short after defeating his former side, stating, “The best form of defence is offence.”
Despite coming up short on the day, Tamer Mansour highlighted how delighted he is with his squad throughout the entire season. “We had a great season and significant improvement from last season, finishing 3rd with 41 points, while last season we finished 4th with 22 points.”
“I’m so proud of the girls who turned up to fight! It’s not easy to play a finals game like that when we have players away or injured, but again the best part is seeing the 16s and the 18s girls stepping up and giving it their all. Couldn’t be prouder to see their confidence grow throughout the season!”
Tamer also added, “Credit to the East Gosford team for a great game, they showed up and deserved the win.”
Match Official – Michael Tohme