Round 19 – NPL NSW Women’s Preview

Only four rounds remain in the NPL NSW Women’s competition with things far from decided.

Bankstown City v NWS Koalas

At Potts Park on Sunday afternoon, Bankstown City hosts the North West Sydney Koalas.

Bankstown showed fine fighting spirit and character when goalkeeper Renee Krstanovska scored a dramatic late equaliser.

The result should give the Lions belief heading into the closing part of the season.

Hopes of finals football are still alive for the Koalas but they cannot drop any points moving forward.

Their a side that can cause anyone problems and if they can sneak into the five will be a threat for the championship.

Manly United v Emerging Jets

Cameras will be on Cromer park on Sunday as Manly United and Emerging Jets clash.

Manly were flying high and in the hunt for the premiership before a blip in form, a blip that coincided with the loss of start striker Remy Siemsen.

They’ve only won three of their last seven with some questionable wins in that time.

The Jets have lost seven matches in a row, scoring only one goal in that time.

They’ll need to tighten up defensively to have any chance in this one.

Sutherland Shire v Illawarra Stingrays

At Harrie Denning Centre Sutherland Shire take on the Illawarra Stingrays.

Sutherland has improved remarkably over the last two months with only one heavy defeat.

They pushed the Koalas to their limits last week and could do the same to the Stingrays if they turn up.

But they’re coming up against an Illawarra side brimming with confidence.

They’ve only lost once in their last five outings, smashing the Macarthur Rams 5-1 last week.

Macarthur Rams v Blacktown Spartans

Blacktown Spartans travel to Lynwood Park to tackle the Macarthur Rams.

A heavy defeat last week was extremely uncharacteristic for Norm Boardman’s side.

They’ll look to bounce straight back with a victory in order to keep their premiership hopes alive.

Stephen Peters’ Spartans were unlucky last week, despite going down by a heavy score line.

They started the game well with a large number of starters missing and will trouble the rams.

North Shore Mariners v Northern Tigers

The Northern Tigers and North Shore Mariners do battle at Northbridge Oval on Sunday.

Three games without defeat has the Mariners finishing the season the way they started it, in fine form.

They’ll look to do as good as they can and finish the season with as many wins as possible.

The Tigers form is also fairly impressive, going four straight games without defeat.

They’ve only won one game in that time though and will look to register another three points on Sunday.

Sydney University v Football NSW Institute

At the later date on Tuesday evening, Sydney University will face the Football NSW Institute.

The Institute are currently top of the pile and will look to stay there with the season drawing to a close.

Only one loss since round eight has Uni as the in form team and current favourites for the premiership.

They’ll think back to that game in round eight though when they lost to their Tuesday night opponents.

The Institute have seen their spot in the five come under threat in recent rounds.

It’s been almost three months since they lost their last game and will take what they can in this one to keep them in a finals place.

-By Nikola Pozder