7 months ago
20
MERL GROVE High head coach Neo Oxford said when they take to the field in their semi-finals fixture against Holmwood Technical today in the ISSA Tip Friendly Society Schoolgirls Football competition, the pressure will be on the more experienced Holmwood unit.
Merl Grove will make their first-ever appearance in the competition’s semi-finals after their flawless run in the quarter-final rounds.
The Oxford-led team finished atop Zone D with three wins from as many games and look ready to make history by booking a spot in the final.
Standing in their way, however, will be Holmwood, who have advanced to the final for the last two seasons.
Oxford believes his team will be under little pressure and will be able to play freely.
“The game plan for us is to go there and enjoy ourselves,” he said.
“The pressure will be on Holmwood. They are three-time semi-finalists and two-time finalists. The pressure is not on us. We just get to go out there and enjoy our football.”
Oxford said the team has been in brilliant form throughout the season and despite making their first semi-final appearance in the ISSA competition, his players are no strangers to winning.
“What we have been able to do is that recently, we had five of our players playing in the ‘Girls Can Play Too’ tournament with Reinas Academy, and they were crowned champions,” Oxford explained.
“We also had the Merl Grove Classics, which is a preseason tournament, where we were also crowned champions; so winning is a culture and its a mentality.”
He said this new winning mentality has been on display throughout the season, especially in their games against Seaforth and Eltham were they were forced to come from behind to win.
In fact, Merl Grove have only been defeated twice this season, both times to eight-time defending champions Excelsior High.
“That winning culture has been slowly growing with these girls. Last week, we came from behind against Seaforth and beat them 2-1 at home. We came from behind to beat Eltham 4-1 and showed that champion mentality.”
They will take on Holmwood at Brooks Park in Manchester, with the game set to kick off at 3 p.m.
In the other semi-final, Excelsior will take on Garvey Maceo at Stadium East in a replay of the 2022 final.
Excelsior will be without their head coach Xavier Gilbert, who is currently on international duty with the Reggae Girlz.
That match is also set to kick off at 3 p.m.
TODAY’S GAMES
Holmwood vs Merl Grove at Brooks Park (3 p.m.)
Excelsior vs Garvey Maceo at Stadium East (3 p.m.)
English (US) ·