PROVING A POINT
AFTER a stoppage-time equaliser denied Gold Coast United an upset win against The Gap more than two weeks ago, women’s coach Michael Cook has faith his side can take it up to anyone.
“Top four is our goal and we’ve shown some really good signs against the top teams,” he said.
Today the NPL women’s team faces another big test as they line up against the undefeated Capalaba Bulldogs, who are coming off a 3-1 win against the Western Pride.
After mauling the Dogs in both encounters last season, Capalaba present a different beast this year. Cook, however, is confident his side is ready to make the league stand up and take notice.
“We expect the girls to lift because it’s an exciting challenge,” Cook said.
“It’ll be another tough match but every match is tough this season.
“There’s probably seven or eight teams who could make finals. I went and had a look at them a few weeks ago and it’ll be a tough match but our preparation has been good.”
After drawing the bye last weekend, Gold Coast have had more than two weeks to prepare for today’s Easter Monday showdown and Cook said they had put the break to good use.
“We’ve essentially had a mini two week pre-season,” he said.
“Rain has interrupted training a bit for the past few weeks and we’re not really where we want to be so with the weekends off, we’ve worked hard and are back to a good level of fitness.”
Despite sitting seventh on the National Premier League ladder, Cook is confident that the standings will soon correct themselves.
“We’ve played one less game then most teams and two less than a couple so our position is a bit misleading,” he said.
“What I look at is that we’ve played seven games and only lost two, which is a solid start.”
Cook also praised his newlook defence, which has only conceded 10 goals in seven games this year.
“It was a big issue for us last year as we conceded too many,” he said.
“We also got Eloise Fryer back this year after doing her ACL and we can’t underestimate her impact.”
United face Capalaba today at the Coplick Family Sports Park in Tallebudgera, with kick-off at 3pm.