Round 13 Preview – NPL NSW Women’s

The excitement of the top tier of women’s football in NSW continues this Sunday with round 13.

Manly United v North Shore Mariners

Derby day at Cromer Park on Sunday as Manly United face off with bottom placed North Shore Mariners.

Grant Lee has moved in at the Mariners and the experienced coach will look to make an immediate impact at the Bridge.

Chris Williams’ side will feel hard done by following last week’s defeat and need to bounce back straight away.

They’ll need a minor miracle to make the finals but it will need to start with a win on Sunday.

Illawarra Stingrays v NWS Koalas

JJ Kelly Park will see the Illawarra Stingrays and North West Sydney Koalas.

The Stingrays are travelling well and their defensive line has really tightened up, with four clean sheets in a row.

Three points are imperative to keep their chase on for the premiership.

Similarly, the Koalas also need the win, maybe more so than the Koalas.

Finals are slipping away from the girls in yellow and a defeat will really dent their chances.

Sydney Olympic v Football NSW Institute

Sydney Olympic will host the Football NSW Institute at Peter Moore Field.

Not the result an even further improved Olympic squad expected last round.

The Rams are breathing down their necks but also hopes for a premiership are still there so Olympic have no space to manoeuvre.

It wasn’t a good day out either for the Institute last week, suffering a heavy defeat against the league leaders.

Leah Blayney knows her team needs to take all three points to stay alive for a finals place.

Northern Tigers v Macarthur Rams

A real test for the league leaders Northern Tigers as the Macarthur Rams come to town.

The Tigers are really enjoying life at the top of the competition.

A win against the experienced Rams will put them a step closer to taking what would be an incredible premiership.

Tough win but an important win for Macarthur last week.

They’ve closed the gap with the top five and they’ll look to continue that with a win on Sunday.

Bankstown City v Emerging jets

Jensen Park will see Bankstown City and the emerging jets face off.

Bankstown showed fine spirit to almost take something from Sydney Uni last week.

Vesna Milivojevic continues her goalscoring form and she’ll look to do so on Sunday.

At the other end, the jets let slip a three-goal lead last week.

They still picked up a point against a strong Koalas team that will give them confidence going in this fixture.

Sydney University v Blacktown Spartans

Match of the Round takes us to Sydney Uni Football Ground as Sydney University and the Blacktown Spartans do battle.

It’s second v third in what promises to be a fantastic match.

Eight games without defeat for the home team and Alex Epakis will hope his team can continue the run on Sunday.

They were pushed to their limits last week and the Spartans will be less forgiving than Bankstown.

Talking about runs, how about those super Spartans!? David Saliba’s side is cruising at the moment and another win here will possibly put them at the top of the pile.

They overcame one massive test last week, this one will be another in this four-week horrid run.

By- Nikola Pozder, NPL NSW Women’s Writer