Gough believes in Rangers energy as Sapphire Cup Final approaches
With the Sapphire Cup final fast approaching, we spoke to Mt Druitt Town Rangers head coach Ben Gough on the match and the season so far.
Mt Druitt qualified for the final with a 1-0 victory over Macarthur Rams courtesy of an 82nd minute goal from Rita Boateng.
“Macarthur were tough, they’ve got a lot of young, quality girls and have had a few of their A-League players come back in meaning they’ve strengthened up a little bit,” Gough said on the match.
“I’d say that where they sit in the league table isn’t a true reflection of their ability as a squad.”
Meanwhile, Mt Druitt have enjoyed a sensational league campaign after winning promotion from the League One Women’s competition in 2024.
“We’ve probably surprised a lot of people with what we’ve achieved,” said Gough.
“I don’t think there were too many people who would have thought at this time of year that we’d be sitting this far up the table.
“But the girls are a great group – the girls that have come in this year have fit right in, and they’ve understood their roles and how they need to contribute to the team.
“One of the interesting things is that we don’t always have a lot of standout players each week – talking to coaches, commentators, people that watch the game – they comment that everyone in the team seems to do their role, and I think that’s a reason that we are so strong.
“Players know their roles, their duties, and they just go out and do what they need to do to contribute to a result.”
Turning back to the final, Mt Druitt will be taking on a strong APIA Leichhardt in what promises to be a match chock-full of quality.
“APIA are a great team – on paper, some superstars of the game,” he said when asked about the match.
“Definitely another team that I believe their true ability is not representative of where they sit on the table at the moment.
“For us, it’s a real test.
“Going deep in a Cup, your squad depth gets tested.
“Unfortunately, in the last few weeks we’ve had a few season-ending injuries.
“We’ve also had Emily Kos announce her pregnancy, and she’s a large of why we’ve been so successful.
“So we congratulate her and wish her all the best, but losing a player of that calibre makes a big difference.
“We’ll be tested, not only in the Cup, but in the backend of this season.
“For now, we’re happy to have made it this far, but come gameday, the competitive nature of the squad will kick in.”
When asked about what winning the Cup would mean to Gough and his club, the exciting coach delivered a thoughtful answer.
“For us as a club, it would be massive,” he said.
“In 2022, Mt Druitt Town Rangers were sitting last in the League One Women’s competition, so to be where we are now is amazing.
“We have the capacity to win a Sapphire Cup, a Premiership, a Grand Final and a Club Championship with a couple of weeks remaining.
“Having all of those things still available is a great achievement from the girls, regardless of if we win any of them.
“For me, it’s just going to be about enjoying the moment, enjoying the fact that they were able to get there.
“And they didn’t have an easy run, they had to play three top tier NPL clubs to qualify for the final, and throughout that qualification we played a variety of younger girls, we even had a 13-year-old play and start along the way.
“Win or lose in the Cup, it’s probably not going to change too much about the overall view of the season for us, but it would be the cherry on top.
“From my perspective, we as coaches wanted to come up and consolidate ourselves in the NPL 1 rather than come up and go straight back down, and I believe we’ve achieved that, so anything we achieve from now on is really a bonus in our first year.”
The Sapphire Cup final will take place on Thursday, the 17th of July, with the match hosted at Valentine Sports Park and the game available live and free on Football NSW’s YouTube Channel.
