Round 10 Preview – NPL Women’s NSW
One victory separates second place to sixth place in the National Premier Leagues Women’s NSW competition ahead of round 10.
Last year’s Premiers APIA Leichhardt are slowly climbing the ladder, while Manly United have extended their lead atop the pile to three points.
NWS Spirit v APIA Leichhardt
3pm, Saturday 4 May, Christie Park
The action kicks off on Saturday afternoon at Christie Park as NWS Spirit welcome APIA Leichhardt.
Since securing their first win of the season against Bulls FC Academy, the young Spirit team has lost two consecutive games.
They haven’t managed to score a goal either over the last two weeks and will need Morgan Roberts and Clare Holder firing to trouble the reigning Premiers.
Three straight wins, seven games undefeated and Brad Attard’s team has recovered after their opening two defeats to kick the season off.
APIA never looked in danger against one of the in form teams in the league (Illawarra Stingrays), with their midfield three of Mona Walker, Estelle Fragale and Angelique Hristodoulou terrorising the opposition.
Ash Crofts is in scoring form too, meaning this APIA team is looking menacing.
Bulls FC Academy v Emerging Jets
4:40pm, Sunday 5 May, Northbridge Oval
Our first game on Sunday afternoon takes us to Northbridge Oval as Bulls FC Academy host the Emerging Jets.
A barren run for the Bulls Academy team, losing three on the bounce and dropping down to eighth place on the ladder.
Their last game saw the return of Jess Seaman and the influential defender will be hoping to get more minutes under her belt.
The Jets come to town and they don’t travel well, yet to score a goal on their away trips, conceding 19 over the four games.
They will need to try and carry some of their home form with them to keep them competitive.
Manly United v Gladesville Ravens
5pm, Sunday 5 May, Cromer Park
At Cromer Park on Sunday evening, Manly United take on the Gladesville Ravens.
The league leaders Manly United are in hot form and are looking unstoppable at the moment.
They will need to watch against complacency, having led by three goals against the Emerging Jets last week, they were almost punished for falling asleep, something the Ravens will most definitely do if given the opportunity.
After a few inconsistent results, the Ravens bounced back to take all three points in last week’s local derby against NWS Spirit.
The Ravens want to be playing finals football and will send a real message if they can come away with three points from this one.
Blacktown Spartans v Northern Tigers
5pm, Sunday 5 May, Blacktown Football Park
The Northern Tigers travel to Blacktown Football Park on Sunday to face off against the Blacktown Spartans.
After defeating the Champions, Macarthur Rams, Sydney Olympic quickly grounded the Spartans last weekend.
They’ve shown they can mix it with the best in the league, in particular over the last three weeks and have started to find their scoring boots.
Points here would be vital for the Orange and Black.
After a slow start to the season, the Northern Tigers are five games without defeat with arguably the toughest run of all through April.
It seems as though defensively the Tigers are having some issues, only holding onto one clean sheet in the opening nine games of the campaign, something they will need to address.
Sydney Olympic v Macarthur Rams
5pm, Sunday 5 May, Peter Moore Field
It’s second against third on Sunday evening at Peter Moore Field as Sydney Olympic host the Macarthur Rams.
Twice this season Olympic have been beaten, twice they’ve responded in style the following week.
They face a tough task here against the reigning Champions who themselves are looking to rediscover some form.
Demi Koulizakis’ prowess in front of goal continued, scoring once more on the weekend, taking her tally to 10 for the season.
The Rams find themselves in a unique position, they are currently three games without a win and I’m not sure anyone at the club can remember the last time that happened.
They required a late equaliser and some help from the opposition goalkeeper to rescue a point and avoid consecutive defeats last week.
Stephen Peters will be keen to get his side to turn things around and what better way than against one of the best sides in the league.
Illawarra Stingrays v Football NSW Institute POSTPONED
5pm, Sunday 5 May, Macedonia Park
The Illawarra Stingrays welcome the Football NSW Institute on Sunday evening to Macedonia Park.
After going eight games undefeated, they were well beaten on Sunday against APIA Leichhardt.
They will be another of those teams looking for a response this week and will need their Japanese import Sakura Nojima to be more influential on the ball.
For the Institute, they didn’t play last week and may be a little rusty coming into this one.
Their last time out they were clinical and will need a repeat here.
UNSW v Sydney University – Match of the Round
5pm, Sunday 5 May, The Village Green
The Match of the Round takes us to The Village Green as UNSW host Sydney University in the battle of the students.
UNSW will be cursing their luck after an error led to them dropping all three points on a tough away trip against the Macarthur Rams last week.
Allira Toby scored again and showed real leadership qualities last weekend, she will be key in this one for UNSW.
Sydney Uni had last week off but before that had lost two consecutive games after their win over the Spartans.
In saying that though, they lost to Olympic due to an unfortunate keeper error and let a two-goal lead slip against APIA the week later.
This will be an intriguing fixture and Oz Rowley will be hoping his team can pick up the three points and shoot up the ladder, overtaking their rivals in the process.
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By – Nikola Pozder
