After two rounds played in the National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s competition, incredibly, only one team remains with a perfect record.
Sydney Olympic currently lead the crop, albeit with the Football NSW Institute still to complete their round 2 game.
There are some mouth-watering fixtures in Round 3, so let’s jump into the preview.
Football NSW Institute v Sydney Olympic at Valentine Sports Park, Sunday 4:40pm
The action kicks off on Sunday at Valentine Sports Park as the Football NSW Institute host table topping Sydney Olympic.
Football NSW Institute’s game was postponed last weekend, giving them extra preparation time for this clash against Olympic.
The young gun female stars were excellent in the opening round against the Gladesville Ravens and showed that they can mix it with the best of the best once more.
For coach Lisa Warrener, she will be hoping that Mikayla Duong is in fine form again and in a goal scoring mood against a stubborn Olympic defence who are yet to concede a goal this campaign, with Courtney Newbon keeping two clean sheets.
Sydney Olympic went into last weekend short on numbers, missing a number of key players from their squad.
Brianna Oliverio, who arrived at Belmore as a major signing, will miss the majority of the season with a serious injury, while the likes of April Stewart and Megan Grew should be ready this weekend.
As mentioned earlier, Olympic haven’t conceded a goal in 180 minutes, a major leader in that feat is Ash Irwin. Irwin has been an excellent signing for the Blues and has also found herself a danger on attacking set pieces.
This game will be an interesting one, but looking back at the head to head, Olympic lead comfortably, 6-1 and look the likely favourites in this highly entertaining match.
Blacktown Spartans v NWS Spirit at Blacktown Football Park, Sunday 5pm
On Sunday afternoon at Blacktown Football Park, the Blacktown Spartans welcome NWS Spirit FC.
It will be a third straight home game for the Spartans as they look to record their first points of the 2023 NPL NSW Women’s campaign.
They had chances against Bankstown City in round 1 while they could have snuck a point against Sydney Olympic in round 2 – It is safe to say that the Spartans are edging closer to a positive result.
Eva Madarang is Blacktown’s key player and much of the Spartans play will go through their Philippine international.
After a disappointing round one defeat, Tiana Gauci’s team responded in emphatic fashion taking down last year’s Champions Macarthur Rams last weekend.
Monique Holder was in fine form scoring a brace, as was Morgan Roberts who is growing into one of Spirit’s most dangerous and influential players.
Back-to-back wins would be immense for Spirit as Gauci looks to secure finals football for arguably one of the competition dark horses.
History isn’t on the Spartans side coming into this one, with only one win against their weekend rivals in the last five years, that one coming in 2019.
Emerging Jets v Illawarra Stingrays at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility, Sunday 5pm
The longest trip in the competition sees the Illawarra Stingrays travel north to the Emerging Jets on Sunday afternoon.
Having had their round 2 game postponed against the Football NSW Institute last week, the Jets will call on some good moments from their round 1 game against Bulls FC Academy as motivation.
Josie Allan is without doubt the go to for this young squad, having scored two goals in the opening game of the season and much will be expected of her again.
They face a team that have lost two games on the bounce and will feel they can make a mark by taking points in this big clash.
It has not been the best start to the season for the Illawarra Stingrays with two straight 3-0 defeats against the Northern Tigers and Manly United.
Defensive lapses have been their downfall in both games and they will need to be more disciplined against a dangerous young Jets outfit.
Sydney University v Bulls FC Academy at Sydney Uni Football Ground, Sunday 5pm
Sydney Uni Football Ground will play host to a massive encounter as Sydney University take on Bulls FC Academy.
The Premiers recorded their first point of the season on Sunday and were probably disappointed not to come away with more.
Uni improved on their round one showing against the Northern Tigers and a big reason for that was the introduction of star striker Stephanie Augoustis who returned from suspension.
The speedy attacker scored a brace and was a constant menace for the Tigers defence and will be another key player for Emily Husband’s team.
For Jaime Gomez’s Bulls side, they took three points against the Emerging Jets, and bagged a big point against APIA Leichhardt last weekend.
They have started well since winning promotion into the top tier and a win here will really make a statement for how far this team can go this season.
Goalkeeper Trudy Simmons, back on the big stage, has been a fantastic leader for the Bulls and will no doubt have her work cut out again on Sunday.
Bankstown City v APIA Leichhardt at Jensen Park, Sunday 5pm
All eyes will be on Jensen Park on Sunday afternoon as Bankstown City take on APIA Leichhardt at 5pm.
Bankstown coach Matt Constantini was disappointed with last week’s result dropping points against newly promoted side Gladesville Ravens, and will be expecting a good performance for his troops.
From defence to attack, the Lions have dangerous weapons all over the park. Siobhan Edwards has been fantastic in her first two games and with Hannah Bacon pulling the strings in midfield, this could be the combination that gets the job done.
If APIA were good against Sydney University, then they were fantastic against Bulls FC Academy. They did everything right but one thing, score a goal. This cost them the three points and they’ll be hungry to set the record straight this week.
Their front three of Ash Crofts, Isabella Coco-Di Sipio and Bella Habuda, backed up by Sophie Hoban strikes fear into many teams.
Spencer Prior will expect discipline from his team in order to get a positive result away from home against a Premiership contender.
Bankstown hold the wood over APIA with two wins in their last two competitive outings, as well as a tight win in an entertaining preseason game.
This one will be special and one of the games of the season, expect fireworks!
Gladesville Ravens v Manly United at Christie Park, Sunday 5:10pm
Christie Park will play host to Gladesville Ravens taking on Manly United.
The Ravens put in a great performance only a few days ago against one of the competition heavyweights in Bankstown City.
Minutes separated them from one of the surprises of the 2023 NPL NSW Women’s season, but even though they didn’t record a victory, the point was golden.
Andrew Galbraith and his team will take the positives from the result and come into this game full of confidence.
On the other end of the field will be a Manly United team that have made a fine start to the campaign, with Tom Hopley undoubtedly pleased with how his team has performed in the first two games.
They will feel they should be on six points having let victory slip in round one, but picking up four points on two difficult away trips will be pleasing.
Even though they are away again for the third straight match, Hopley and his team will enter this one in a very positive mood to continue their unbeaten start to the season.
Northern Tigers v Macarthur Rams at North Turramurra Recreation Area, Sunday 5:30pm
Round 3 finishes off with the 2022 NPL NSW Women’s Grand Final rematch at North Turramurra as the Northern Tigers host the Macarthur Rams.
Jake Stephenson’s team have kicked off the year in decent form having recorded one win and one draw in their first two matches.
The Tigers came from behind last week to lead, before succumbing to a late goal and having to settle for a draw against Sydney University.
Captain fantastic Hannah McNulty was dangerous, as was the star of last week’s show Gemma Woolley who had two goals to her name. They will both be key in breaking down and finding a way through the Rams defence.
It hasn’t been a great start to the season for Stephen Peters and the Macarthur Rams.
The 2022 Champions pinched a point against Manly United in round one and weren’t in the contest until the final 15 minutes against NWS Spirit.
Peters will need to ensure his team starts better and are ready to go from the opening whistle after having to play from behind in both of their matches.
Macarthur do have enough fire power and quality to improve and this could be the game that will see the Rams click.
Still fresh in both teams’ memory will be the Rams’ 2022 grand final victory on penalties last season. Much like that game, clashes between the two have been tight affairs and expect the same here on Sunday.
By – Nikola Pozder