By Stan Chetin
On October 14th we will have another Raptors double-header. The Raptors Men play at SK Dolní Chabry "B" and the ladies play at SK Pavlíkov. The previous weekend was a success for our man’s squad, who muscled another victory to keep them in the top few of the league. However, this upcoming game will have extreme importance, as Dolní Chabry has the same amount of points as we do, albeit having played 1 game more.
Head Coach for the Men's team, Jon Davies, said:
“Wednesday’s friendly loss against our Italian visitors was a bit of a wake up call for us. As a squad, we were disappointed with our performance and personally, I was disappointed that the guys that were given an opportunity to force their way into the squad for competitive games were unable to do so.
The boys must remember that even though we have enjoyed a successful start to the season, things can change quickly if we don’t perform to our best ability. This is football. Full of ups and downs determined largely by determination and focus.I will be looking for a huge improvement as we head into Sunday’s fixture with SK Dolní Chabry . Chabry are currently third, having lost just once so far this season. It will be a huge test, I have no doubt.
The fact that Vladimir Smicer has an affiliation with Chabry will make it an especially exciting experience. I remember watching him on TV as a kid, so coming up against him as a coach (and possibly a player) is something to look forward to
Having said that, it’s the same as any other game, in that we get three points for a win. We must maintain our focus and commitment individually and collectively if we are to maintain this 100% record
It will be a tough test but I believe in what we are doing and in each and every one of my players! I know that if we apply ourselves we will emerge victorious on Sunday and take a big step closer to fulfilling our ambitions for the season.
Up the Raptors!”
Our ladies are still looking to get their first win. The last game was very close, but luck was on our rival’s side. Still, our girls are improving from game to game and wins will come sooner rather than latter. Their next opponent holds the 4th place. We have asked our ladies’ coach, Luis Pereira, about the upcoming game:
“Another big test for our team this weekend because we need to travel a long way to visit SK Pavlíkov and as we could see last weekend this league is a tough league and not every time the best team wins the game, so I think we now need to be cautious keep our focus and keep on trying our best to win games.
In the last league games, we proved to everyone that we are a strong team and now our opponents know that they need to be careful when they play against us, we found our identity in the pitch and we are playing better than ever.
We have some of our key players injured so we will need to make some changes on our team for our game with SK Pavlíkov, they are in 4th place in the league so we expect that it will be a tough game but we know what we are capable of doing and our players will fight until the last minute to succeed and bring 3 points home.”
We wish very exciting and successful games to both our teams. Go Raptors!