Wary Terry keeping Raheny on their toes
COMPLACENCY is the biggest fear Terry Eviston battles with and he requires a daily dose of optimism to overcome it in order to look on the bright side.
The Raheny United boss is not a pessimist, far from it, he just knows that when his players start thinking that winning games is easy, then all of their good work will come undone.
That i s why t he f ormer Dundalk supremo is constantly reminding the WNL and FAI Umbro Cup champions of their need to keep raising the bar in terms of their standards and expectations.
‘We’ve finished about a third of the season and we’ve done really well — on top of the league and yet to lose. But the difficult thing is to stay there and keep the edge within our squad,’ said Eviston.
‘It’s human nature that we take things for granted, so I’m trying to tell the girls that there is no such thing as an easy game. But when they are beating some teams well, they just dismiss that and wave me away.
‘So it’s something that I have to keep on top of every single week. As manager, I have to make sure that they are right for every game and one thing that helps me in that regard is competition for places,’ added Eviston.
That squad depth has proved to be the north Dubliners’ secret weapon. When they lost the likes of Seana Cooke, Megan Campbell and Mary Waldron, many felt that it was only y a mat-
PLAYER FOCUS
JESSICA GLEESON (Wexford Youths) COOLNESS under pressure is something that Gleeson uses to her advantage, especially when trying to build play from the back and feeling the heat of opposition attackers. An excellent defender in her own right, but it is her ability to link play, pick out a pass and cover for others that sets her out. If she keeps on progressing, then a brighter future in the women’s game awaits the Ireland underage star. ter of t i me before they crumbled.
Instead, other players l i ke Sinéad O’Farrelly, Kerrie Ryan and Clare Shine have stepped up and proved themselves.
It has made Eviston’s job easier in one way, but also tougher as he now has a selection headache each week.
Eviston may be only new to the Raheny helm having taken over from Seán Byrne this season, but the 56-year- old has found hi mself facing a difficult challenge in keeping a winning team motivated.
With the best attack, best defence and best record in the l eague so f ar, everything is looking good for them to retain the title.
Although, their manager knows only too well how quickly that can all unravel.
A DIFFERENT VIEW...
WHAT another miserable weekend for Cork Women’s after they suffered their eighth straight defeat of the season. Even worse for Maurice Farrell’s side is the goals against column, which reads 39, and that is something they must address. It’s easy to point that out, but the first step to putting points on the board is by tightening up at the back. Maybe a change of system might work, although individual performances must improve in order for them to benefit collectively.