Women aiming for Pride
Joy Forsyth in action against Western Pride in pre-season (photo Chris Simpson)
Gold Coast Women head west tomorrow in search of a win against a Western Pride squad sitting one position above them on the ladder.
The two clubs met in pre-season with the Seasiders prevailing in humid conditions in January at Robina. United Coach Michael Cook is not reading much into that game.
“We had a good result against them in pre-season, but it was far from comfortable.
“Western Pride are a well organised, well coached team. I’ve analysed a couple of their recent matches and we’ll need to be at our best to get the win we’re aiming for.”
Pride come into the match having notched up a last start victory against Logan Lightning before Easter.
United take much confidence to Briggs Road after pushing The Gap all the way in their Rd8 match, falling 4-3 to a stoppage time winner from the hosts.
Cook is confident that his young squad is ready to get the job done Saturday night.
“We certainly have the ability to bring home the three points but we expect a tough contest.
We’re looking forward to the match.”
Once again the ‘gaffer’ has placed his faith in youth to strengthen his ranks with Phoebi Clissold (18) & Phoebe Cave (17) recently joining the squad.
Phoebe Cave (l) & Phoebi Clissold
Clissold from Goulburn moved to the Coast in 2015 and played for the Palm Beach U15 NPL side. She then spent time in the Souths United system before linking with Logan Lightning at the start of 2018. A return to the Coast was made more attractive by the Club’s professional approach.
“I found it really easy to make the move to Gold Coast. The girls have been really welcoming and the program really appealed to me.
“It fits with what I was looking for this season.”
The versatile midfielder believes that wins are on the horizon.
“The ladder’s not really a reflection of how we’ve been playing.
“We’ve been going really well and not getting the results we deserve. The focus is on turning that around this weekend.”
Phoebe Cave also boasts a strong football resume. Originally from Tamworth, Phoebe spent several years in the Northern Inland representative system before being scouted to the Emerging Newcastle Jets system in 2015. The young midfielder moved to Queensland in 2017 playing with Olympic FC.
After missing initial selection for United, Cave approached Michael Cook about training with the squad and the Coach was more than happy to oblige. In a classic example of ‘hard work does pay off’, Phoebe recently joined the squad permanently.
“I was really drawn to the Club, the United way of training. So I asked Michael if there was any chance of being involved and thankfully he agreed.
“A couple of weeks ago he asked me to join the squad full time. I’m really grateful for the chance.”
Both young women bring a lot of energy, enthusiasm and talent to the United squad.
Expect these two to grow in confidence in the coming weeks, with their next chance to shine tomorrow night in Ipswich. Kick-off at Briggs Road is at 5pm.
If you can’t make it to the ground follow live updates on Twitter – @WesternPrideFC & @gcunitedfc.
Half-time and Full-time scores will be posted to Gold Coast United’s Facebook