United vision
MIDFIELD reinforcements Phoebi Clissold and Phoebe Cave are sharing more than just a first name as they fight to make their NPL Women’s mark with Gold Coast United.
With defender and vicecaptain Ellie Fryer and attacker Deeanna Thompson sidelined through injury, Clissold and Cave have joined an inconsistent United outfit as mid-season signings.
Tamworth product Cave, 17, has been training with the squad since December and featured in the club’s past two games, while 18-year-old Clissold has also appeared twice after a four-game cameo with Logan Lightning at the start of the season.
Their mission now is to propel United (7 points) from ninth spot towards the top four, beginning with tonight’s trip to Ipswich to face the eighth-placed Western Pride (10 points).
“Our previous results haven’t reflected how we’ve been playing,” said Goulburnraised Clissold, who made her NPLW debut for Souths United two years ago.
“I think we deserve to be up a lot higher on the ladder and we have weekly goals that we’re looking to achieve and if we do that should get us there
“The Gold Coast program really appealed to me and I wasn’t really getting out of Logan what I wanted for the season so I thought it’s better for my development here at the Gold Coast.
“The training has been a lot more professional and it’s more what I wanted from the season.
“They’ve definitely made it easy to make the move midway through the season.
“I was a bit nervous but they’ve been really welcoming and I’ve enjoyed it so far.”
While United are winless since thrashing South West Queensland 8-1 on March 3, Cave said she was “loving” life on the Coast after arriving from Olympic.
“I’m definitely learning so much from the older girls,” the Robina resident said. “They’ve taught me so much in the couple of months I’ve been there that have developed my skills that little bit further.”
Coming off a 2-1 loss to Easts, 11th-placed Mudgeeraba will fight for their second win of the season at home to a Lions FC outfit chasing their seventh victory in as many games.
The Wallabies have lost their past two fixtures after collecting four points from games against Logan and Gold Coast. Kick-off against the Lions is at 3pm at Tallai’s Sid Bigg Park.