Confident WaiBOP one win away from final

Rotorua's Amanda Wilshier (in yellow goalkeeping jersey) and Loaded WaiBOP take on Capital Football for a place in the National Women's League playoffs final on Sunday. PHOTO/ ENZO GIORDANI.

Rotorua's Amanda Wilshier and Loaded WaiBOP are gearing up for the biggest game of their lives.

WaiBOP travel south to Petone to take on Capital Football tomorrow for a place in the 2016 National Women's League final.

The team are full of confidence after booking their place in the pre-final playoff thanks to a stunning second-half comeback against 2015 champions Northern last weekend.

That victory owed much to the character, grit and ability that has been on show by WaiBOP all season and goalkeeper Wilshier said she was expecting more of the same against Capital.

"There's a lot of pressure - I mean this is the biggest game of my life," she said. "We all know this will be the hardest game of the season and I'm going to be very busy in net.

"But confidence and belief is high. We know we are capable of scoring from all over the field and defensively we just need to make sure we work as a unit."

Despite WaiBOP's positive outlook, head coach Barry Gardiner knows the playoff will be a slightly different challenge to the one the team faced at Northern.

"We were not expected to win last weekend and looked vulnerable out of possession in the first half," he explained. "But to turn it around in the manner we did means we have to head into the playoff with confidence levels high. I think both teams will fancy their chances this week, so that should make for an intriguing match up.

"It's a winner-takes-all scenario, of course, which we experienced against Northern. Hopefully the experience of having come through that on the right side of things will give us extra confidence. Sometimes it's knowing you've had to dig deep that builds character. That might help us should we face a similar scenario."

The match is set to be a tightly fought contest - with WaiBOP and Capital sharing the spoils after a 2-all draw on the opening day of the 2016 National Women's League.

Wilshier, who was unavailable for the previous clash, expects to take on a different Capital outfit to the one her side faced at the start of the season.

"Like us, they'll have grown a lot as a team over the last month and a half, so they'll be stronger than the last time we played. But then so will we," she said.

"The aim for us is to make sure we put our chances away and defensively make sure we are communicating strongly and each player does their job."

Gardiner added: "They might see themselves as favourites, particularly with home advantage, but our record away from home this summer is pretty good so we're confident of a good performance.

"Like every week, if we can get the things we control, such as preparation, attitude, concentration and, ultimately, our performance at the level we want then we'll be in with a great chance of progressing."

Whoever wins tomorrow will face Canterbury United Pride away in the final.

2016 National Women's League fixture:
Sunday:
Capital Football v Loaded WaiBOP Football, Memorial Park, Petone. (Kick-off 1pm)