WNL Preview: Raheny United -v- Galway WFC

• Aaron Clarke
• Sat, Apr 04 2015




Raheny United Vs Galway WFC, Morton Stadium 05/04/15

Kick-Off 13:00

Match Referee: Natasha Valentini

Raheny United

The home side enter the Easter Sunday fixture having surrendered their grip on the Women’s National League title after a 2-1 defeat at home to Wexford Youths.

 

The Pandas are currently on their worst run of league form since the creation of the league after suffering their first loss since November 2012 against Wexford in February they have gone on to suffer two further defeats at the hands UCD Waves and Wexford again.

 

While many sides in the league have just one or two league game remaining, Raheny have four, two game in hand on second place UCD Waves and will be aiming to pick up maximum points as they battle to secure second position in the league.

 

Extratime.ie spoke to Raheny Attacker Noelle Murray about the recent defeats and how the preparations are going for Sunday’s game.

 

“Mood in camp is good, obviously we're disappointed to have lost the game and the league overall but it's time someone else had a go, it just gives us more hunger to reclaim it next year.

 

“The expectations are high as always. No one remembers a performance only a result, but in order to get a result we need to play well so like always we will go into the game working hard and looking for a win.”

 

Extratime.ie also spoke to Murray about the upcoming League Cup final against Peamount United, to see if focus now switches to building moment towards this game.

 

“No a league game is a league game and that's what we're still focused on, getting that 2nd place spot. Obviously we want to build up a good consistency and we will continue to work hard in training but we take each game as it comes, so we will worry about the cup final when it comes to it.”

 

The Pandas boss Casey McQuillan must plan without the services of Jamie Finn and Amanda McQuillan on WU17 international duty while Rachel Graham remains sidelined due to injured, while Pearl Slattery returns to the Raheny side after missing the game against Youths due to suspension.

 

Galway WFC

Galway are on the road for the final time this season when they make the 211km trip to the capital to play Raheny.

 

The visitors will be aiming to return to winning ways having pushed the newly crowned champions Wexford very hard in a 1-0 loss at home in Eamon Deacy Park on their last league outing,

 

Galway will be aiming to exploit any weakness in the hosts’ performance and come away from Morton Stadium with all three points.

 

Extratime.ie spoke with Galway’s Irish international Meabh De Burca about the agonising loss to Wexford in their previous outing and the mood in camp for Sunday’s game.

 

“It was difficult after going behind so early and up against Wexford's strong defence. We really pushed hard for an equaliser, particularly in the second half. But unfortunately for us we couldn't find a goal to affect the result, which has been the story of many of our games this season.

 

“Even at this late stage of the season there is still a really positive and upbeat atmosphere within our team. We've a great group of people at the club working hard to move it in the right direction and we'll be looking to finish off this season with two good performances.”

 

Galway boss Don O’Riordan told the FAI Press release that he will be using the last two games to try and examine players with an eye on next season, but the Galway boss insists that they will hope to still pick up points in their last two games.

 

Match Stats

The sides have clashed on two occasions this season. Raheny came from behind twice to snatch a point thanks to a late goal from Katie McCabe. In the second game Raheny recorded a 3-1 victory in Eamon Deacy Park.