Kanwal v Umina
Umina will headline their third straight match of the round as the surging E-Gals look to keep their best form of the season intact when they hope to claim maximum points from Wadalba and go on level on the ladder with third-placed Kanwal.
Kanwal enters round 18 coming off a 1-0 loss last weekend to the league leaders Terrigal. That marked the Bull’s fifth loss of the season as Ben Raychaudhuri’s side remains in third place with 27 points to their name and with a finals spot all but wrapped up.
Although they didn’t come out on top against the O’lasses, Ben’s side took it to Terrigal and were extremely unlucky not to walk away with a result in that fixture as Terrigal remains the only side the Bulls have failed to record a single goal against in 2023.
Looking back on that contest, Bulls head coach Ben stated “As a team, we were happy with our performance against Terrigal. We have been hit hard with illness the last 4-6 weeks as well as losing several players for the year and therefore have needed to work on new and different combinations.”
“I feel those combinations played well together on Sunday and we have another opportunity for them to get some continuity with the midweek game against Kincumber before we tackle the defending champions on Sunday.”
Last night the Bulls secured a narrow 3-2 victory over Kincumber thanks to goals from Grace Heinemann, Jordan Evans, and Molly Couch. With their opposition also playing last night, both teams will enter this weekend’s fixture coming off a tough schedule of games.
“Whilst it feels like an age since we last played Umina, we did meet them twice in the Pre-Season Cup so both sides will be very familiar with each other,” spoke Ben when asked about the opposition.
“As far as the previous result having a bearing on this game, I don’t feel that will be the case other than Umina looking to avenge that result. For us, we need to keep working on the new combinations as we head into the semi-finals.”
When these two sides met earlier in the year, Umina once again made the long trek north to Wadalba Sports Complex as the Bulls were too good for the E-Gals on that day, walking away with a 3-1 win in a very tight and exciting contest.
Now the Bulls will look to repeat that result as the club prepares for a big day on Sunday with their annual Legends Day taking place as their men also prepare for a big fixture at the same time.
“Sunday is a big day for Kanwal. We have the Men taking on Killarney and we face Umina, both sides who won their competitions last year. As well we have our annual Legends and Sponsors Day so we are expecting a large boisterous crowd and hopefully, they can lift both teams to much-needed victories. If we are able to perform as we did last Sunday then I have total faith that we can grab a result.”
As Umina prepares to take on their third top-three team in the matter of a week, the E-Gals will still be feeling the highs from their comeback of the season win last week at Umina Oval.
Umina welcomed WPL heavyweights East Gosford to their home in the round 17 match of the round and after a disastrous first half, Steve Donaldson’s side found themselves 4-1 down after taking an early 1-0 lead.
However, Umina showed their championship spirit, scoring four unanswered goals to hand East Gosford just their second loss of the season. Steve’s side then had the difficult task of backing up that ninety-minute performance against the undefeated league leaders last night.
Once again Umina showed their championship spirit, holding Terrigal to a 0-0 draw, recording the first clean sheet against Terrigal of the entire WPL competition in 2023.
Steve spoke on the historic comeback against East Gosford as well as their form heading into the weekend. “Last week’s come from behind win was arguably the best comeback I’ve been a part of in my coaching career. However, I feel it covered the cracks in what was a very poor first half where every goal came from our turnover. We need to compete over ninety minutes like we did in the second half more consistently.”
“This was again a problem that we faced against Terrigal. I don’t think we are anywhere near our best. Taking four out of a possible six points from the top two placed teams is commendable though, considering our poor form. We need to reset a little and get the simple things right if we’re going to get anything out of Kanwal.”
Unfortunately for Steve Donaldson and Umina, they did not leave these two fixtures unscathed as their Captain Chelsea Campbell, who scored the winner against East Gosford, is likely to miss this important match as she waits for scans on an injury.
When asked about the opposition, Steve had nothing but high praise for Ben, his squad, and the way he coaches his team. “Kanwal will end a tough seven days for the girls. Ben is a top coach, and as a football fan, I admire the way he has his team play. We’re hoping for a return of Freyja from overseas who will boost our team massively. However, we’re waiting on scans after our Captain Chelsea went down after a studs-up challenge late in the game from Terrigal, much to their disgust that she stayed down.”
Match Official – Darryn Eyndhoven
All Round 18 Fixtures –
