With Torquay United’s women taking on Ascot United in their opening FA Women’s National League home match on Sunday (23/08/26 2pm KO), boss Ryan Perks is anticipating a testing encounter for his side.
Having gone down to a narrow 1-0 defeat at Wycombe in their first match of 2026/27 last weekend, Perks will be looking for his side to bounce back at Plainmoor, having had time to assess events in Buckinghamshire.
“Looking back at the Wycombe game, I think we had enough chances to win the game,” said Ryan.
“We played pretty well, but were done by a strike from distance. We will learn from the mistakes we made, and hopefully will rectify that against Ascot.
“We spoke in pre-season about the level of competition, and it’s going to be a battle every week. I think it’s a wide-open league if I’m honest – most teams can beat each other on their day, and Wycombe gave us an insight as to what it’s going to be like.”
With United currently unable to call upon the services of a number of key players so far, Perks is confident his full-strength squad will pose a match for any team in this division.
“We’re missing quite a few players, and when they are added back into the fold, that will put us in really good stead.
“As a manager, you want everyone available so you can work on things, but unfortunately this is where we are with women’s football in tier four. There are some teams that have a lot of money and can contract players, but having jumped up from tier five, we’re not in that position at the moment, so it’s very much a voluntary basis in which the players are playing for the football club.
“Holidays, work, and unavailability is going to happen, and that’s why we’ve got to have a big squad to hopefully not have these problems in he future. If we can get through these next couple of weeks, we can then start pushing on”
Photo: ECFC
In addition to Ascot providing their own threats on Sunday, the prospect of visiting teams raising their game upon a visit to Plainmoor isn’t something that’s lost on the Torquay manager either.
“It’ll be another difficult game, and they will be looking to bounce back after a heavy defeat at home to Gwalia, and they will be looking to upset the party here at Plainmoor.
“This weekend will give us a bit more of an idea as to where we are at, at this level. Playing at this stadium, and on this surface at Plainmoor, is unbelievable, and we saw in our games last season that teams come here and raise their games and make it more difficult.
“We’ve got to use it to our advantage – we like to play football, get the ball down and move it quickly, so if we can begin with three points at home, that will give us the confidence for the coming weeks.”
Plainmoor Pass holders will not be required to purchase a ticket for this fixture, and will have access to their usual seats for Sunday’s game. Popsiders will be allocated unreserved seating in Bristow’s Bench Blocks A & B.
