Eve Gatens has urged her South Shields Women teammates not to “underestimate” bottom-placed Harrogate Town Women ahead of this Sunday’s league fixture.
The Mariners head into the match sitting in fifth place in the NERWFL Premier Division table, with a couple games in hand over some of the teams around them.
Sunday’s visitors, meanwhile, have picked up just five points in 11 games, but every game in this league poses a unique challenge as she has alluded to.
“No game is ever easy in the league and we can’t ever underestimate any team either,” she said, “as you never know what can happen in 90 minutes.
“We will still go into the game with full confidence we can get a good result and get the three points.”
It will be Shields’ first outing since their heavy Women’s FA Cup defeat to Liverpool Feds, after last week’s planned game against York RI Ladies fell victim to the poor weather.
Although she was let down by that decision, focus has swiftly turned to this week’s challenge.
She added: “It’s disappointing to have the game called off as we want to get back to winning ways after a tough defeat in the FA Cup the previous week.
“We’ve had some good training sessions and we have also worked on things to help us moving on to our next game, which will be Harrogate at home.”
Needless to say, this season has had its fair share of ups and downs, but now is a good time, in her view, to get some stability in place ahead of a difficult run-in in the league.
“We started off the season really well and have had a lot of bright moments so far in the season, as well as a really good cup run,” said Gatens.
“We will still continue to graft as a team and stick together through the ups and the downs for the remainder of the season.
“We still have a long way to go and still plenty of opportunities to finish very highly in the league.”
Kick-off at Harton Welfare (NE34 0NA) this Sunday, December 8th, is at the slightly earlier time of 1pm. It is free entry and all support would be appreciated!
Image credit: Craig McNair (@ideventphoto)
This game is a chance for the Mariners to reassert themselves and build momentum for the rest of the season. It's a bit like the strategy in Raft Wars to be resilient and prepared for any challenge, no matter how easy it seems!