Football Ferns quartet to bolster Canterbury United
The fact three Auckland-based Football Ferns still want to play for their hometown Canterbury United Pride reveals plenty about the culture and record they’ve created.
The defending national women’s champions announced the bulk of their squad for the upcoming campaign on Wednesday, which kicks off against WaiBop at English Park on October 14.
New Zealand internationals, goalkeeper Victoria Esson, defender Meikayla Moore and striker Aimee Phillips, who all reside in Auckland as part of the Football Ferns development programme, are confirmed and Pride coach Mike De Bono expects to get four round-robin games out of them.
Football Ferns midfielder Annalie Longo, who is Mainland Football’s women’s development officer, is also available again and will be crucial to their fortunes.
Esson, Moore and Phillips could easily have opted to play for Auckland or Northern, but De Bono said they were proud Cantabrians and determined to represent the Pride. They will likely arrive later in the week for home games to train with the team.
‘‘Some of the girls that are wanting to come down, they were part of the new revolution around putting the Pride together.
‘‘They’re pretty passionate about the programme and the red and black. We are lucky that they say they want to come back down and play.’’
The Pride have retained the majority of last year’s successful squad, but will be missing exciting young midfielder Lily Bray, who is out with a broken leg.
Her absence has been offset by the return of Mikayla Wieblitz, a proven goal-scorer for the Pride, from a knee injury.
Waimak United teens Macey Fraser and Gabi Rennie, who helped the New Zealand under-16s qualify for next year’s Fifa under-17 World Cup, will be eager to build on last season, where they got a taste of national league football.
Midfielder Beth Elliott (Cashmere Technical) and forward Cody Taylor (Coastal Spirit) have been selected for the first time after strong performances in the Mainland women’s competition.
De Bono said their rivals were making progress, as illustrated by Capital’s improvement last season, and stressed going back-to-back would be a challenge.
The other six sides will be desperate to knock over the Pride and should lift another gear when they face them, but that was something Canterbury relished.
‘‘We’ve got a bunch of girls, who are pretty driven in the success they like to achieve. It will be no different this year.
‘‘Whenever I ask them what they want to achieve, they say they want to be on top towards the end. That’s indicative of the type of programme we want to drive here locally.’’
The Pride were guilty of allowing the odd sloppy goal last season and being tight at the back and keeping clean sheets was a key focus, De Bono said.