By Stan Chetin
On Sunday both our teams will be playing. It should be a great day and a chance for us to further improve on last weekend's results.
The Raptors Ladies will play first, at 10:15, against ČFK Brňany. For this game they are travelling to the city of Brňany, which is around an hour from Prague. This club was established in 1919 and currently has over 100 members. This is very good opportunity for the first win, as our opponent holds the last place in the table and we already have good experience and should start rolling. Here are some supportive words from Luis:
“The players deserve all the credit for the improvement shown in the last weeks, We had some bad results but we learned from our mistakes and last weekend Game against FK Postoloprty was the proof of that, the Raptors Ladies showed to everyone that they have a say in this league and that we can fight side by side with the teams in the 4th league.
After a big wave of injuries and problems with registrations, we finally have almost all the players available for our upcoming games, so I could say that me and coach Simone are happy with all the commitment shown with the fighting spirit from the Raptors Ladies, and exited to show what our Team can do now that things are getting back to normal.
This weekend game against ČFK Brňany is our chance to show to everyone including ourselves that we have a good team, a good structure, and good management behind all the work that we have been developing.
I am confident that this weekend's game with ČFK Brňany will be better than the last one, and even though it’s a hard task its guaranteed that our Raptors Ladies will fight until the last second of the game like they always do and hopefully a good result will come with that.”
After this we have our Men's team playing at our home field at 15:00. This game should be intense as it is against SK Čechie Smíchov "B". We have already played against them and it was a very tight game, which ended with a draw, 3-3. This game dates back to 20th of August, since then our team became much stronger and experienced. Although it will be a touch game, this is a great chance for us to move into top position in the league. We asked our head coach, Jon Davies, for his thoughts about the upcoming game:
"Last Sunday was a fantastic experience and feeling for the whole club. Players were brimming with confidence as things started to click between them and the goals flowed freely.
The opposition was poor and we will face much bigger challenges in the future but I was happy for the boys. Watching their smiles and joy is what it's all about for a coach, so in that sense it was 'mission accomplished.'
Our play with the ball was exceptional as we played fast combinations and created space efficiently. The improved technical ability and understanding exhibited between the players was extremely pleasing to see.
Despite such a positive display, as a coach, no performance is ever perfect and there was still plenty to improve upon. At times, our concentration and intensity dipped below acceptable levels and we must ensure that we focus for the full 90 minutes in future. The goal that we conceded was the first that we have conceded this season and it was extremely frustrating to see us switch off and ruin that perfect record.
Each success poses more problems and obstacles. Teams will be gunning for us now. Sunday's victory and particularly the manner of it created a bit of a stir at this level of Czech football. Rivals and casual observers wrote comments on social media while journalists at well-respected media outlets wrote articles about us.
This is great for the development of the club off the pitch but as the head coach, I am determined to not let it affect our performances on it. We must remember that this project is only just getting started and we have our sights set much higher. It's my job to ensure that our players remain focused on the job at hand and I intend to do so.
All of our hard work and the results to date will mean nothing if we don't win on Sunday. Our game against Cechie Smichov promises to be the biggest test of our season so far and anything less than 100% commitment could see us come unstuck.
I have absolute faith in my players and we will be doing all we can to make it 5 wins from 5 and continue our 100% start to the season. Bring it on!
Up the Raptors!"
We are all hoping this Sunday will bring us 2 wins. Please come along to support! Go Raptors!
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