Upper Hutt aim to keep the faith

Self-belief has been the making of Upper Hutt City this season.

Fresh from capturing their first W-League title (previously known as the women’s Central League), they head into their women’s Knockout Cup semifinal against Eastern Suburbs at Madills Farm in Auckland tomorrow with a quiet confidence about them.

Part of that stems from losing just one game in the league all year, scoring 68 goals and conceding just nine in their 15 games along the way.

Another part was the way they performed in last year’s semifinal against three-time champions Glenfield Rovers. They lost due to a 68th-minute stunner from Katie Rood, who this week signed a contract with Italian giants Juventus, after many people gave them no chance.

Upper Hutt coach Wendi Henderson said they had taken a lot from that game into this season.

‘‘If we reflected honestly last year we didn’t quite have that belief until probably threequarters of the way through the game when we thought ‘wow, it’s still 0-0 and we might have a chance here’.

‘‘This weekend we’re going in with that little bit more belief, that little bit more experience and I think it’s definitely put us in a good position.’’

Adding to their experience levels has been Sarah Gregorius.

The 30-year-old retired from the Football Ferns late last year after 82 caps, scoring 25 goals, with a professional career which took her to Germany, Japan, Australia and English heavyweights Liverpool.

The return to her junior club has obviously added a lot on the field - she scored 36 goals in 17 matches in all competitions - but Henderson said her contribution was much more than that.

‘‘Sarah brings not only her wealth of international experience, but she has this ability to relax players, while also instilling that belief as well.

‘‘She’s just full of life, so bubbly in the squad environment, and just brings that humanistic side to players. It’s great to be serious when you’re out there doing the business, but she’s taught them it’s OK to be a bit light-hearted as well.’’

She was away for their extratime 2-1 win over Palmerston North Marist in the quarterfinals, with Lena de Ronde popping up with the winner for her side.

It was symbolic of how Upper Hutt had approached their season.

‘‘We’ve had a really good squad for the entire year,’’ Henderson said.

‘‘That to me has been the difference this season compared to other seasons. It hasn’t been about one player or a group of players, it’s been about our full squad and the ability to transition players in and out so smoothly, and everyone playing their role.’’

Henderson offered special thanks to the club for supporting them in getting to the semifinal. The team had always hoped they would make the semifinal again, but money can’t really be set aside for what-ifs. The team also held a movie night to cover some of the cost of getting to Auckland and back.

They will be hoping to repay that support of the club and the local community by becoming the first Wellington team to make the Knockout Cup final since Petone in 1998, but Eastern Suburbs will be no pushovers.

The other semifinal will see Glenfield travel to Dunedin to take on surprise package Dunedin Technical.

The men’s Chatham Cup is also on, with Central United hosting Bay Olympic and Onehunga Sports travelling to Christchurch to play Cashmere Technical.