Merewether go into the Herald Women’s Premier League grand final having not beaten Warners Bay this season but Panthers player-coach Cassidy Davis is not one for facts and figures.
At Weston Park on Sunday, the league’s top two sides will battle for the championship for the second consecutive year and Davis was expecting a typical hard-fought duel between the competition heavyweights.
“We haven’t obviously lost to them this season but we won’t be thinking about that because finals is a whole new story,” Davis said.
“We’ll just be thinking about what we need to do to win and what we can do to counteract them and their weaknesses.
“You have to forget about things that happen through the season. I don’t go much into statistics.
“The girls were saying before last game we hadn’t lost at home this season, and then we did, so stats don’t really mean too much.”
There is, however, one statistic Davis would like to change.
The W-League Jet has played in five of the past six WPL grand finals for just one victory.
That came two years ago when Warners Bay beat Wallsend 1-0 at Weston.
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You have to forget about things that happen through the season. I don’t go much into statistics.
- Cassidy Davis
The 2017 championship decider was the last time United toppled the Panthers and it was in sensational fashion when they came from two goals down at the break to win 4-3. The defeat was “one of the hardest in this league” for Davis.
“We worked so hard for it and to get up 3-1 at half-time was pretty positive but the pressure of the game just seems to get us a little,” she said.
“Obviously that happened with Merewether in the final and South Wallsend in the semis this year; we just felt that pressure a little bit. But that’s finals football and we have to learn to deal with it better.”
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But the grand final loss has not been the driving force as Warners Bay powered to a second consecutive minor premiership.
“We’ve just been taking each games as it comes,” Davis said.
“Getting the premiership was the first thing. Then getting through the semi-finals was the second.
“Now, this week is probably the first time we’ve spoken about making the grand final and talked about last year.
“But you can’t really talk too much about what happened last year. From the past two games we know we just need to be better.”
Warners Bay and Merewether have met three times this season.
The Panthers won 3-1 in round six and 2-1 in round 20. They drew two-all in round 13.
Warners Bay’s only loss in the season proper was a 4-2 defeat in round nine at the hands of New Lambton.
They then lost 1-0 to South Wallsend last weekend in the second match of their two-legged semi-final.
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The grand final kicks off Sunday at 3pm.
