Terrigal v Wyoming
Terrigal will be out for revenge in this week’s match of the round when they met Wyoming under the bright lights of Pluim Park this Saturday.
“The boys are really excited to play a night game at Pluim Park this Saturday. The chance for us to play on a surface which will allow us to really showcase our style of football and move the ball with speed and intent,” voiced O’lads coach Pete Edwards.
When these two sides met back in round 2, Terrigal made the trip to ‘The Den’ Alan Davidson Oval. On that day, a slow start saw the visitors go down 1-0 before working their way back into the fixture and taking a deserved 2-1 lead at halftime.
With Wyoming setting up extremely defensive all game, it appeared that Terrigal would see out the victory and claim all three points.
However, a second-half lapse from Terrigal saw Wyoming take a 3-2 lead late thanks to a Jared McNee free kick and a stoppage-time winner by youngster Jordan Stephen.
To make matters worse, from kick-off, Terrigal had one last chance to salvage a point when they were awarded a penalty. Competition veteran Stuart Adams stepped up for his side but was denied by Wyoming keeper Tom Coventry.
Despite the loss, Pete states he and his squad have taken lots of out of that game. “The last time we faced Wyoming, it was a game we dominated for 80 minutes but then as football often does, we were sloppy in the last stages of the game and conceded late goals and let the game get away from us.”
“We have to show that we’ve learned from those mistakes earlier in the season and against any team in the MPL you can’t afford to switch off for a second.”
As we are now over the halfway mark in the 2023 MPL competition, last year’s premiers Terrigal finds themselves sitting in fourth place with a record of 5 wins, 1 draw, and 4 losses.
When asked about how he sees Wyoming lining up this weekend, Pete voiced he believes the Tigers will invite pressure again and look to counterattack when they have the chance.
“The key for us this weekend will be to move the ball with speed at the right times. Be calculated in our attempts to break them down and always be mindful of leaving ourselves vulnerable in defence.”
“We expect Wyoming to set up compact and invite us into their half and force us to commit players forward, but we are all too well aware of their counterattack and strength in being direct in transition moments, which is something we will need to manage to take points from the match.”
Pete also touched on what his side will need to do effectively to walk away with the win. “As we expect chances to be few, we have to be clinical in front of goal and take those opportunities when they come.”
“The surface should help us to move the ball quickly and the boys are really looking forward to stepping out at Pluim Park this weekend!”
Wyoming’s only win of the season came against Terrigal, and the Tigers will take plenty of confidence knowing they can repeat that again this weekend and pick up vital club championship points.
This young side who are once again fighting a relegation battle in 2023 just lost two of their experienced players, the King of the Ming Matt Hall and competition veteran Jared Mcnee, who are both overseas for the foreseeable future.
However, coach and football maestro Ian McAndrew made his first-grade return last weekend as he looks to provide his side with some stability and experience for the second half of the season.
“This year has been an up and down year, we started the year strong and were in a good position,” stated McAndrew.
“We find ourselves back in a similar position to last year, as a club you always want to stay in the MPL, but you can’t just focus on that we need to focus on our performances. We have been in a lot of games, but we make too many mistakes in games and other teams are capitalising, with a young team it’s hard to get consistency and that is going to be our goal as a squad for the rest of the year and the rest will work itself out in the wash.”
McAndrew instantly made his mark in his first game last week when he gave his side a 1-0 lead, only for the Wombats to comeback and defeat the Tigers and hand Wyoming their sixth loss of the season and their second 4-1 defeat in back-to-back rounds.
Wyoming will be adamant to turn things around this weekend as they relish the opportunity to take the main stage at Pluim Park on Saturday night. “It’s great that Pluim is getting used for MPL, the league has the best players in it other than the academy (Mariners) and more games should be there.”
McAndrew also added, “It should be a very free following high-quality game on the best grass deck in NSW. Both teams will be able to play with freedom cause they can trust the bounce and enable them to play attacking football, it’s a great step now it’s up to CCF to get more games up there.”
When asked about his opposition, Ian had high praise for Terrigal who looks to be getting back to their normal self. “Terrigal will be a very hard match this weekend, I think they have had a tough start to the season with the high standards they normally set but they are starting to become the Terrigal of the last two years as their results are showing.”
“We are just going to go out there and stick to our plans and put in a good performance and if we can, we will definitely be in the game. We have only been beaten convincingly by Killarney and Southern this year, the rest of the games we have been in the fight and mistakes have cost us.”
Match Official – Mark Roberts
All Round 11 Fixtures –
