Central Coast Women’s Premier League: East Gosford defeat Terrigal to claim first premiership

A team has broken a 50-year drought to claim its first premiership in what was a thrilling grand final clash in the Central Coast Women’s Premier League.

The East Gosford Rams celebrating a goal during the team's 3-2 win over Terrigal United in the 2023 Central Coast Women's Premier League grand final.

The East Gosford Rams have created history by claiming the club’s first ever Central Coast Women’s Premier League title after defeating Terrigal United 3-2 in a nailbiting grand final at Pluim Park.

Rams forward Tahlor Thackray was the hero for her side, scoring a hat-trick in what was a famous win for the club.

“It was a history-making day for us,” said coach Jorge Chavez. “It was the accumulation of many years of work to achieve what we did.

“People kept asking after the game, ‘How do you feel, how do you feel?’ And I was like ‘Proud and relieved and a bit sad that the journey’s over and that the year’s over – but it was all worth it.’”

The victory caps off a remarkable rise for the club, which only last year qualified for the finals for the first time, before going on to win the pre-season Association Cup and then finish second at the end of the regular season, four points behind minor premiers Terrigal.

East Gosford claimed the club’s first WPL title after defeating Terrigal United 3-2 in the grand final. Photo: Central Coast Football

And while the on-field success may be relatively recent, Chavez said the foundations were built over a long period of time.

“We had a team dinner in the clubhouse on Friday night and we looked at the club photos.

“The first women’s team was in 1975 and the first girls’ team was in 1981, and we were playing for all these people who came before us. It means a lot to the club and I think you saw that in the emotions after the win,” he said.

There were plenty of emotions after the full-time whistle. Photo: Central Coast Football

“The emotions just came out. I told a lot of people who didn’t play on the weekend, ‘You’ve built the pathways for these girls to be where they are today.’ So it wasn’t just us this year, it was years in the making.”

While the Rams broke a near 50-year drought to claim their first WPL title, they certainly didn’t do it easy.

The team lost captain Jacinta Ling to injury in the major semi-final a fortnight ago, with her deputy, vice-captain Lucy Metcalfe, suffering broken ribs in last weekend’s preliminary final win over Umina.

The Rams started the game strongly. Photo: Central Coast Football

If that wasn’t enough, a host of others were battling injuries as East Gosford took a Terrigal team looking to go through the season undefeated.

“We had three injured players who shouldn’t have played that game, including one of them who played on just one knee. We were all optimistic that we could still get the win but in the back of our heads we knew we were the wounded warriors,” said Chavez.

“We did it the hard way as well. We had so much stuff go against us in the last few weeks and I kept telling the girls, ‘The sweeter the victory will be, don’t worry about it.’”

The Rams took control of the game by scoring first. Photo: Central Coast Football

Despite losing to Terrigal three times this season, including a 4-1 loss in the major semi just a fortnight ago, the Rams came firing out of the blocks and dominated proceedings in the opening stages.

“They were amazing. They just wanted it. I think they just wanted it more. Sometimes having a week off isn’t a great thing and we just kept fighting, like we’ve done for the last three weeks,” said Chavez.

“We created multiple chances in the beginning and could have easily been up by three goals if we’d have finished those chances. So we knew that we had the game plan but we just had to make sure that we lasted the 90 minutes, with all the injuries and heat.”

After a bright start Thackray opened the scoring to put East Gosford ahead, however Terrigal struck back to ensure the scores remained even at the break.

Terrigal kept coming back to remain in the game. Photo: Central Coast Football

The Rams continued their dominance in the second half, with Thackray pushing the team in front again with a well-taken goal, before a penalty put the side 3-1 up and in touching distance of the trophy.

However Terrigal, who had a record of 16 wins and three draws from its 19 games heading into the grand final, didn’t give up, and scored a late penalty in injury time to set up a nervy finish.

“I think everyone thought Terrigal would go on to have an undefeated season, so we knew we were underdogs and we actually like that, took that under our wing and went out there,” said Chavez.

“I think we were a bit more calm and relaxed in the game – except for the end when you’re so close to winning it and they get a penalty in the 92nd minute to make it 3-2. That was a bit of a heart-stopper. We had four minutes to hold on.”

Thackray ws brilliant for East Gosford with a hat-trick. Photo: Central Coast Football

While proud of his whole squad, the coach singled out his hat-trick star Thackray for her matchwinning performance.

“She was clinical,” he said. “She’s that talented. There were spectators that have never seen either team play before and they picked her out straight away – she was a class above everyone else on the pitch.

“She took the grand final and won it for us.”

Chavez also paid credit to his grand final opponents, who narrowly missed out on going through the season undefeated in what has been an excellent campaign.

“Full credit to Terrigal. They’ve built a great squad and lifted the bar in the league this year. They were a great team to face, they were hard to break down and they all played their role really well.”

East Gosford defeated Terrigal 3-2 in the first grade grand final. Terrigal defeated Kanwal 4-1 in reserve grade.