Chatham Town Women return to National League action this Sunday when they welcome high-flying Norwich City WFC to the Bauvill, with Keith Boanas’ side looking to keep tabs on the top two.
The high flying Women Canaries currently sit second in the table behind an unbeaten Fulham and the Chats boss knows that his side have to dig deep come Sunday – “We know we are in for a stern test this weekend; they narrowly beat us in both games last season where we believe we had opportunities and situations that could have gone our way for a better result in both games.
“But of course, that’s the nature of the beast and we must ensure it does not come down to things you cannot control,” the Chats boss said ruefully remembering two ridiculous offside calls that shouldn’t have gone against his side last season.
“We know we need to apply ourselves on the pitch,” he went on, “We have worked hard as ever in training to prepare for this game. We know that we cannot at this point match the resources of the top two teams both being
attached to professional clubs with full time clubs – the top two with Premier League and Championship clubs. But what we can do is what we always do and that is to trust and believe in ourselves and our ability both individually and collectively.”
The Chats last outing ended with the abandonment of their away game at Cambridge where home defender Brook Cheal-Ferris suffered a horrific triple leg break and dislocation in a freak accident, and with last weekend free after losing to Dulwich in the League Cup, yet Dulwich couldn’t full fill their place in the next round due to an injury crisis, something that left the Chats somewhat dismayed.
“Not having a game last week was not ideal especially considering the circumstances that ended with Dulwich withdrawing from the league cup,” the manager told us.
“But following the bruising encounter we had with Dartford in the Women’s Isthmian League Cup ten days ago, we gave the players some recovery time. So, training this week has been focused on and prioritising Sunday and for sure we need something from this game and being at home we want to at minimum give everything we can.”
The Chats go into the game fifth in the table, eight points behind the Canaries with a game in hand with Fulham leading the way a further four points in front of Norwich after winning eight of their nine Women’s National League games so far this season.
Player-wise, Boanas confirmed that four of his players have been called up for CONCACAF qualifiers – a proud manager told us, “Simone Eligon has been called-up by Trinidad and Tobago, Otesha Charles by Guyana whilst Jas Auguste and Tyra Poole – who has just rejoined us – are both heading off to represent St Lucia. A great honour for them and for us and we wish them success and of course a safe return.”