LARA UNITED’S SIGNING COUP
EXCITING BACK SIGNS ON
AHEAD of its must-win showdown at home with La Trobe University on Sunday, third-placed Lara United’s slim promotion hopes have been bolstered by the signing of its first senior women’s international recruit.
Leah Winstanley, a talented 19-year-old centre back, has landed at the State League 2 club for a two-month stint from Manchester, England, where she played for Middleton Athletic Ladies FC as well as the University of Manchester.
Lara United Women’s head coach, Tony Horrocks, is understandably excited about the prospect of having the young Englishwoman take the field for the Navy Blues.
“The club and coaches are happy to have signed Leah and have brought her to Lara for the remainder of 2018. Hopefully she brings another set of eyes on how things operate over there, further enhancing our winning mentality and exposing that to our players,” Horrocks said.
Winstanley is an exciting defender who represented Manchester City in the EPL’s schools tournament, playing against and defeating Manchester United, Liverpool, West Ham, Brighton and Preston North End in 2014.
“Hopefully, Leah’s arrival will establish a relationship between UK clubs and Lara. We’re currently talking with players and coaches in the UK to establish those relationships,” Horrocks said.
“We hope some of our girls will be able to take advantage of it by going to play in the UK in the near future.”
Turning his attention to Sunday’s game against fifthplaced La Trobe, Horrocks is confident his charges can capture all three points.
“We’re looking in good shape for La Trobe. We’ve got players returning and we obviously have Leah joining the team,” he said.
“The tricky thing will be getting everyone to click again. But we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Although promotion is an unavoidable topic, Horrocks is more concerned with rebuilding his squad.
“Getting promoted is still a possibility. Obviously, we’re relying on other sides dropping points and we’re not forgetting we have to play the top of the table team (Hoppers Crossing) in the last game. So it may come down to that,” he said.
Kick off at Lara Recreation Reserve is at 3pm on Sunday.