Club News
Varley: This is one of the biggest games in our run in
Published by Gillingham Ladies Media on March 27, 2010
Gills Ladies take on Enfield for the fourth time this season that is right the fourth time and it is the second time in as many weeks.
Ian Varley’s side were due to play Ebbsfleet on Thursday evening but it was called off due to a water logged pitch.
Talking about his frustrations on having the game postponed last minute to CHRIS DICKETTS, Ian said: “Very frustrating as the girls were really up for the game and I’m pretty confident we’d of put in an excellent performance.
“Obviously it’s disappointing for Martin as well as we were launching our new programmes today and he’d done a lot of promotion for this game. There was easily going to be over 100 people attend so that in itself its disappointing but again being tenants of the ground there’s nothing we can do.”
The manager did have injury concerns over a few of his players after what turned out to be a bruising encounter against Dartford on Sunday.
Giving an update on his injured players, he added: “In a way it’s a bit of a blessing as Ash, Bex and Jodie were all carrying knocks and Aj was unavailable so in that respect it gives them chance to rest up before Sunday.
“I was looking at getting Nat 90 minutes against Ebbsfleet as she’s missed a few weeks now but again it can’t be helped and hopefully she’ll get the full 90 minutes on Sunday at Enfield.”
Ian keeps a close eye on the action
The visit to Enfield on Sunday has been earmarked by the manager as one of the biggest games of the season for his side.
He said: “I would go as far as saying that this is one of the biggest games in our run in. Obviously we have to play Norwich still but if we win all our games up to that then the league is almost over.
“Enfield will be our biggest test as they are one of the better teams in the division so a win Sunday would be massive for us. That’s no disrespect to the likes of Tottenham, Northampton, Ipswich and Fleet but we’d be expected to beat those teams comfortably. I will make the girls aware of how big I think Sunday’s game is!
“It’s quite strange to have faced them three times already but it’s good that we’ve managed to beat them every time.
“In those games we’ve scored a total of 12 goals and only conceded three so it’s a good record. The girls won’t be complacent as they know that Enfield can cause anyone problems if there on their game and we’ll approach the game professionally as we always do.”
Ian has a selection headache this weekend as he looks to name a team to beat Enfield and maintain their winning run even with Deanna Cooper away.
He added: “I am really happy with the squad we’ve got and each game it’s very difficult to pick a team.
“I said to the girls last week that I will be picking my strongest available team every match now as it’s important we get some momentum as the season comes to a close.
“Dee is going to be a huge miss as she offers so much in every game she plays. It’s unfortunate she’s going to miss the next few games especially the Kent Cup final but it will be a great experience for her and not many girls aged 16 will have the chance to play cricket for England in South Africa and she goes with our blessing. Obviously it’ll be great when she’s back!!”