Moors Ladies are looking to bounce back to form on Sunday when they return to home soil to host Wallsend Boys Club Women’s Reserves at EDC’s Houghall Campus in Durham (2pm kick-off).
Last weekend’s disappointing 3-2 defeat to Gateshead will remain fresh in the mind and boss Billy Shackleton will seek a reaction as Moors look to build on their tally of three points from the first available nine.
Not only did Moors suffer defeat at the hands of Gateshead, there was also bad news on the injury front as Julia McGovern sustained a fractured ankle and goalkeeper Steph Doonan aggravated a calf problem.
Shackleton will remain without Katy Hemmingway and Monika Kisicka Kisicka, but he will hope to welcome back skipper Alex Saunders and is hopeful that Meg Foster can be in contention for the first time since the opening day.
Unbeaten Wallsend will form tricky opposition for Shackleton’s side, and he knows that his players will have to produce a strong performance if they are to shrug off a slow start to the campaign.
“There is no denying that Sunday will be a tough game because Wallsend have proved that they are a good side with their early season form,” admitted Shackleton.
“We know that we will have to be much improved from our last fixture if we’re to get anything out of this weekend’s game.
“We earned a good 4-3 win over a Wallsend side in pre-season, but this will be a very different team we’re facing, so we need to approach it in the right way and show what we’re all about.”
Moors will hope a good result on Sunday can help provide them with a platform on which to build greater consistency and set them up for an exciting cup rematch with Gateshead to be played at The Brewery Field on Sunday 16th October.
This weekend’s game at the Houghall Campus of East Durham College kicks-off at 2pm and entry is free for all supporters if you’d like to head along and cheer Moors Ladies on.
