WNL Preview: Galway WFC v Raheny United

• Extratime Team
• Fri, Dec 12 2014




GALWAY WFC boss Don O’Riordan spent last week in the Netherlands as part of his UEFA Pro Licence course and found the visit to some of the top Dutch women’s teams as well as other Eredivisie clubs a real inspiration.

 

O’Riordan’s Galwegians are looking to make progress in the Continental Tyres Women’s National League this season but his long term ambitions for the club have been boosted by his recent experiences.

 

“It was great to see what Ajax have done with their women’s team and they are now training over three mornings a week. We also went to FC Twente and PEC Zwolle and spoke to people involved in their women’s football set-up,” he explained.

 

“I saw a lot to make me think about how we can help improve Irish women’s football and this club in particular. FC Twente spoke about aiming high and looking to raise the expectations of the players and the commitment levels. They’ve been going seven years and have been improving every year.

 

“That trip has opened up a lot of ideas and it was inspirational. It’s always been my ambition to get into the Champions League as a manager and  I’d love to do it with Galway WFC. I’ve seen how Ajax and FC Twente have made their progress. We also saw Anderlecht play and I think my team could give them a good game. We all felt it was a tremendous experience.”

 

O’Riordan’s Galway side held leaders Wexford Youths last week and will face an interesting test against champions Raheny United this Sunday.

 

“Last week we faced the league leaders and this week we have the champions. We wanted to show Wexford we weren’t an easy side to beat as we had been when we went down there,” he said.

 

“Last week we matched them from a physical point of view yard for yard. We didn’t play technically as well as I’d have liked but I couldn’t have faulted the effort everybody put in and we had a couple of chances so could have won it although our keeper also had a few saves to make.

 

“We’re gaining confidence week by week. We’ve got to build on that and do our utmost to get the win on Sunday.”

 

Galway have signed Ellie O’Flaherty, daughter of former Galway United and St Patrick’s Athletic star Ricky. “She’s been training with us for a few weeks so she is the right age to play in the league now and I think she’s going to be a very good player. I used to coach her father so it’s nice to be working with the next generation. We’ll help her develop,” O’Riordan added.

 

Raheny United continue without Clare Shine while Niamh Barnes is also out. Pandas boss Casey McQuillan expects a tough test at Eamonn Deacy Park.

 

“We’re still looking to catch up on back games and are looking to get back on top of the table. It won’t tell the true story until everybody has played same amount but once we are on top at the end of the season I’ll be happy,” he said.

 

“We’re concerned enough about this game. Wexford didn’t get it easy last week and we’ve never had it easy against Galway over the past few years so we know this will be really tough.”

 

Referee: Marc Lynch