Things can only get better for the Southern United women’s team.
It has had a tough start to the national league, dropping its opener to the Mainland Pride before being thrashed 8-0 by Northern last weekend. The good news is those are arguably the competition’s two top teams, although Southern faces another tough opponent in Capital at Memorial Park in Petone tomorrow.
Like Southern, Capital had a young team but has won two of its games and drawn the third. It has yet to play either Northern or Mainland, so it is hard to gauge how the sides compare, but Southern is expecting a tough challenge.
"We’re going to find we’re up against a form team who have got their tails up on their home patch," Southern coach Hayley Stirling said, "so it’s going to be difficult. Regardless of who the opposition is this week we’ve got to . . . make sure we’re prepared for a very tough battle."
The side remained focused on its own performances and Stirling was confident it was heading in the right direction. It had built depth and she felt it could be competitive by being more clinical and doing the little things right. With an average age of 19, that would come in time for the squad.
"We talk a lot about the process of winning.
"So without a good performance, you’re not going to get anything out of it. If we can perform well in key areas, key moments of the game, if we can get some goals on the board, if we can shut the opposition out, that’s when we can start building on, [asking] can we get a draw from this? Can we then go forward and get a win from this?"
Despite leaking eight goals, the side had focused on its attack this week with an eye to making better use of possession.
"I think we’ve trained pretty well this week, just looking at our in-possession game. We don’t want to hide away looking at our defence because we know we can defend well. So it’s just [a case of ] looking at what we can do with the ball."
Southern v Capital
Memorial Park, 2pm
Southern United: Jade Middleditch, Sophie Dijkstra, Jordyn Walker, Kelsey Kennard, Annabel Gilchirst, Katreena Drake, Kate Guildford, Rachel Christie, Renee Bacon, Mikayla Gray, Lara Wall, Holly White, Caitlin Taylor-Lynch, Stephanie Lee, Tabitha Seaton, Holly Johnstone.
Capital Football: (from) Natasha Ingram, Anna Wittmann-Wenzel, Ella Wilson, Emma Lavery, Francesca Grange, Katie Barrott, Mikaela Hunt, Samantha Kendrick, Tessa McPherson, Asha Strom, Danielle Turton, Jayme-Lee Hunter, Kennedy Bryant, Lena de Ronde, Maggie Jenkins, Maya Hahn, Nicole Baird, Sarah Marsden, Briar Palmer, Emily Morison, Emma Main, Grace Surridge, Hannah Wignall, Michaela Robertson.
