PRIDE is on the line as Leonard Cup defending premiers Henwood Park face runners-up Junee at Burns Park on Sunday at 11am.
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The Jaguars have been desperate to settle the grudge, but how do they plan on getting the upper hand over a team that’s undefeated so far this season?
“Just play a nice, friendly game,” Junee captain Steph Puttock said.
“Play the way we do.”
Junee had a narrow 2-1 loss to Henwood Park early in the season in a friendly match, but tensions flared during the most recent encounter, and the score blew out, 9-1 in Henwood Park’s favour.
Hawks veteran Danielle Plummer’s looking forward to the challenge.
“It’s always a pretty tough and physical game against Junee,” Plummer said.
“They’re always strong competition.”
Junee’s been undermanned for weeks, due to unavailability, but this week, they’ll have a full squad.
“It will be nice to have everyone back,” Puttock said.
Junee winger Nicole Tinnock, goalkeeper Sarah Smart and midfielder Abbey Foley have been crucial in recent weeks and will feature prominently on Sunday.
The Hawks present a full squad aside from Grace Di Trapani who’s unavailable.
For the Henwood Park women the local competition has brought one win after the next. However, Plummer and five of her teammates, who played for Wagga in an exhibition match against Canberra FC in March, remember all too well how it feels to lose control
“We got owned,” Plummer said.
“They were working in triangles and moving quickly.
“We had to defend the space the players were moving to.”
The Hawks have tried to emulate Canberra’s brand of soccer in the local comp.
“The past couple of weeks we’ve been playing pretty well as a team; communicating well and linking passes up,” Plummer said.
“I think we’re pretty hard to beat when we’re playing on form like that. It makes it hard to defend.”
But there’s always room for improvement.
“I think as a team we can always improve on our fitness,” Plummer said.
“That’s something that helps us out as a team towards the back-end of the season.”
Both sides have been playing cohesively, as the younger players come up to speed.
“A few of our younger players, Maddi (Stephens) and Belle (Leiper), have definitely stepped it up,” Plummer said.
“There’s been a lot of good ball work, a lot of the younger girls are starting to feel comfortable in their positions,” Puttock said.
“We’ve been learning new spots, making our team more versatile for finals.”