Hopes and Expectations
2014/15
And Pre-season Friendlies

Pre and early Season

Exeter City Ladies train to win at golf club

Tuesday, July 22, 2014 by Jenni Ashford. 

Exeter City Ladies FC and Exeter Golf and Country Club are pleased to announce that they are continuing their partnership from last season.

Every Thursday evening the ladies take part in a fitness training session at the golf club which is run by one of their trainers. The training sessions have included spinning, circuit and bootcamp style training as well as SAQ (speed, agility, quickness) and weights based sessions. The partnership between the two establishments is the first of its kind for women’s football in Exeter and shows the commitment that both Clubs have to the development of women’s sport in the area. Exeter City Ladies FC came second behind Plymouth Argyle in the league last year, mainly due to a run of great results in the second half of the season. They were also finalists in the Devon County Cup, unfortunately again losing out to Argyle.

Helen Kukor, Exeter City LFC player, their lead strength and conditioning coach and a Personal Trainer at Exeter Golf and Country Club has been taking the sessions. "Our form in the second half of the season is a credit to how hard the girls and the coaching team have worked on improving technique, tactics and most importantly fitness. Exeter Golf and Country Club are an integral part of our training and had a huge effect on our success last season. They are incredibly accommodating and the facilities and equipment there are fantastic. The girls have enjoyed all the sessions and we are extremely grateful to Exeter Golf and Country Club for letting us train there”.

The Ladies manager, Chad Gribble, has praised the link saying that it helped the football club to achieve their highest ever finish. Chad said: “’We would like to thank Exeter Golf and Country Club for the professionalism and care taken by the staff to each athlete to help ensure they were prepared physically for each fixture.” Gribble explains that being able to adhere to a detailed training program, at a facility like Exeter Golf and Country Club has made the players feel part of something extremely professional. The Ladies have now started pre-season training and have already played one game, beating Torquay United 1-7 at Plainmoor. Their weekly training sessions at Exeter Golf and Country Club have already started again for the season and the team are hopeful about their performance in the months ahead.

Manager changed

In September 2014 there had been. a managerial change within the ladies set-up as manager Roger Bonaparte was replaced by Gareth Young. Gareth worked in the clubs Football in the Community charity and Performance Centre scheme and was hoping to help push the club forward due to his coaching capacity.  This was Gareth’s first job in women’s football. Exeter City Ladies went on record to thank's Roger for all the work he did during his time in charge and wish him the best of luck in football in the future. Gareth’s first game in charge was against league leaders Forest Green Rovers in the 5th of October 2014. 

Match Report:
Torquay United Ladies 1
Exeter City Ladies 7

reported on the 7 July 2014

Grecian ladies win at Plainmoor

Exeter City Ladies’ first pre-season game saw them travel to Plainmoor to be part of a showcase for the Gulls’ success last season, which saw the hosts pick up the South West Women’s Football League title in the 2013/14 season.
Exeter also had a good campaign last time out, finishing as runners-up to Plymouth Argyle in the South West Combination, and saw the fixture as a way of getting pre-season rolling.
The first 10 minutes saw the Grecians start where they left off with, left-wing back Lola Garcia Sanchez causing constant problems as well as the pace of Helen Kukor causing problems to the Gulls. 
It was Kukor very early on who helped Exeter take the lead – a ball slid down the line saw the forward leave the centre-half behind with ease, forcing the defender to concede a penalty which Kirsty Caunter dispatched well. 
Exeter continued to dominate proceedings but with no real conviction and the score remained 1-0 for the majority of the first half – that was until five minutes before the break after a spell of Torquay pressure paid off for them, with an impressive 25 yard strike from Lousia Crooke left the game level. 
This encouraged Exeter to kick on and within minutes Sanchez got in behind the full back after Kate Hine released her, and she squared to Caunter who wriggled through two defenders to restore the lead. 
The second half saw an electric performance from Exeter’s forward players – Kukor opened the margin in scores after leaving her marker behind and slotting under the oncoming keeper. 
Kukor now turned her performance up a notch and was a constant threat, and it was soon four for City as she laid on strike-partner Tash Knapman for her first.  
The introduction of Vicky Barter created even more for Kukor and Knapman, although it was Sanchez who created Barter’s goal with another run down the left and cutting back to the edge of the box for Barter to place the ball out of reach for the Torquay stopper. 
Kukor was soon to strike again after leaving two tired defenders behind with the extra yard of pace she kept adding to every run, and the scoring was finished when Sanchez finally found the net after several good attempts through the game.
It capped a very encouraging performance for a first pre-season game played earlier in the year than normal. 
The Grecians face PILCS South Wales, runners-up in the Welsh Premier League, on Saturday 20th July (kick-off TBC).  The game will take place at Exeter’s new base at St Martins FC.
Exeter City Ladies: Coupe, Staddon, Potts, Wright, Hine, Sanchez, Brooks, Copp, Caunter, Knapman, Kukor. 
Subs: Barter, Russell, Butt.

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