OVA women in red-hot form set to clash in Ladies Day derby

Coming off a pair of wins last weekend, both sides have been in good form in 2022, which coach Steve Doherty had hoped would be the case when he was building the teams.

"We had the dilemma about whether we have a first team and a second team, or do we make them as equal as we can?" Doherty said.

"We went for the latter, thinking it was probably better for not only our players, but the competition as a whole."

So it has proven, as both teams are among the top handful of sides which are currently jostling for top four spots.

OVA Red defeated Kootingal White 9-0 on Saturday, while OVA White sunk the top-ranked North Companions White 6-1.

The Red team, Doherty said, is the younger and less experienced side, but has run rampant early in the season with three consecutive wins after a loss in round one.

White, meanwhile, rebounded from a close loss to Kootingal Purple with their victory on the weekend.

Following these wins, Doherty said both sides are "looking pretty good", but he could not pick which one was more likely to win this weekend as they have both been in good form.

Instead, he simply hopes that both teams take away important lessons from the game and can avoid more injuries, which have bedeviled the squad early in the season.

"We spend a lot of time trying to teach the girls about the game and trying to play the sort of football we want to play, which is possession-based," Doherty said.

"We want to try and develop a pathway for young players to get through. We've had a number of players from OVA that have played NPL and that sort of stuff, so rather than just playing, we want them to learn about the game and the tactics.

"We'd rather they develop skills and make mistakes doing that, than not try to develop the skills, and we also focus on enjoying it. They're just a great bunch, a fantastic group of people."

The two OVA teams will play this Saturday at the Gipps Street Playing Fields from 3pm.

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