Arrive Alive NSW Womens Super League Round 2 Preview

There were some impressive first up performances from many sides. Round two, however, brings new challenges with the winners needing to prove their form and the losers getting the opportunity to bounce back.
There are some mouth watering clashes on offer with the promise of plenty of excitement as our ten talented teams battle it out for supremacy.
Lat weekend?s very impressive winners, Illawarra Stingrays, come up against another of the first round success stories, St George FC at J.J.Kelly Park.
There was much to like about Illawarra in last week?s win over Inter Lions. There?s plenty of firepower across the park with this team with St George needing to keep a close watch on Stingrays strike pair of Carney and Heyman.
St George themselves chalked up an impressive 2-1 win over Northern Tigers in their first outing for 2008. The Stingrays will prove a stiff test but this game has a touch of ?derby? about it that could see the St George girls come to the fore. A match up that?s well worth a Sunday drive down the coast for keen women?s football followers.
Bankstown Wildcats travel to Parklands Oval to take on Northern Tigers in another round two encounter.
The Wildcats snuck past Blacktown Spartans last week in a close match. Northern Tigers were on the opposite end of a narrow scoreline when they went down to St George FC.
Home ground advantage may be worth that little bit extra to the Tigers who will be keen to open their winning account early in the season. The claws could really be out in this battle of the cats but the football should be of high quality.
Blacktown Spartans and UNSW will both be looking to kick start their season after first round losses.
The Spartans fell 2-1 to Bankstown whilst UNSW went down 2-0 to Gladesville Ravens. Blacktown Captain, Bronwyn Jarvis, will be doing her best to lead by example as her girls chase the three points at home. Francis Park should be the scene for plenty of thrills as these two sides battle it out.
Gladesville Ravens have their first home game of the season, hosting the girls from Southern NSW FC. The country girls went down in their local derby with Western NSW Panthers last weekend but weren?t disgraced by the 2-0 scoreline.
They will be eager to strike back this week but meet a strong Gladesville side who?ll be buoyed by their successful start to the season.
The 2007 premiership ladder says that this may well be the clash of the round with both sides figuring in finals action last season. Gladesville will certainly be looking for revenge after a narrow semi final loss to the eventual beaten Grand Finalists.
This should be a cracker that?ll have plenty of people talking over the water cooler come Monday morning.
The final game of the round for review sees Inter Lions making the trip over the mountains to visit the Western NSW Panthers.
The Panthers were impressive winners last weekend in the battle of the bush with Southern NSW FC. Inter Lions, on the other hand, had a tough introduction to the Super League against a surging Illawarra Stingrays outfit.
 Inter Coach Joe Baldacci is confident that his girls will make their presence felt in this year?s competition however.
How better for his team to support their coach?s confidence by inflicting a defeat on the strong Panthers line up. The Panthers players will be looking to show their local fans that they are the real deal in 2008 so Inter can expect a less than hospitable welcome to Alec Lamberton Field.
An excellent line up of games which will undoubtedly continue the run of highly competitive matches we witnessed in round one.
Apart from Illawarra?s six goal performance at Concord Oval in week one the remaining games saw little between the sides. This competition has a long way to go but is already looming as a race that could go right down to the wire for places in the finals. Good luck to all the teams in round two.
Look out for our interview with Blacktown Spartans Captain Bronwyn Jarvis in next week?s Football NSW E Newsletter.
These Player Interviews will become a weekly segment in the Newsletter with players from both the Arrive Alive Premier league and Arrive Alive Super League to be featured.
-By Ross Anderson