Arrive Alive Women?s Super League Round 1 Preview

With former Arrive Alive Women?s Premier League and Westfields W-League players joining up with various clubs the expectation is at fever pitch for the opening round of the competition this weekend.
Undoubtedly the most highly anticipated match of the round is the Italian Derby between Inter Lions and Sydney Tigers at Concord Oval. Controversy has swirled around the two clubs during the off season as coaches Joe Baldacci (Inter Lions) and Tarek Madani (Sydney Tigers) have gone about building impressive squads for the 2009 season. With players like Natalie Spirovski (Inter), Alicia Cavanagh (Sydney Tigers), Dani Calvi (Inter) and W League star Lisa Gilbert (Sydney Tigers), to name but a few, amongst this Sunday?s line ups fans have every right to salivate at the thought of the football that will be on display.
Inter will have a lot more grunt going forward this season and, with the addition of former Young Matilda Catherine Cannuli to the team in coming weeks, The Lions looks like a side that means business in 2009. The Sydney Tigers team have been building towards making an instant impact that will back up their off season publicity. As newcomers to the league one might be forgiven for thinking they would ease their way in but the girls from Leichhardt have ambitious plans for their club that have them ultimately looking for promotion to the Arrive Alive Women?s Premier League sooner rather than later.
Even the clash of the coaches should be of interest with their relationship going from jovial frivolity to keen competitiveness as the season?s kick off has got closer. It may be muskets at ten paces on the benches before the 90 minutes are up.
Having built a friendly relationship with both camps it now becomes a worrying prospect to upset one or the other by tipping a winner here. However, this time around at least, I think that Inter Lions may get away with the points.
Last season?s Minor Premiers, Western NSW Panthers, host the Blacktown Spartans at Alec Lamberton Field in their season opener. The Panthers played some classy football in 2008, Watching them in action during the recent Mitchell Cup tournament in Bathurst it would appear that, despite some losses to their playing roster, they?ll be contenders again this season. Captain Gillian Rosconi enjoyed a memorable season in 2008 and will be looking to lead from the front again this season.
Blacktown Spartans would rather forget the 2008 season as nothing seemed to go right for them. They finished at the wrong end of the ladder which was a travesty on what this writer saw of them. There have been quite a few changes on either side of the white line for the new season so The Spartans will be looking for them to trigger some improvement in 2009.
The Western NSW Panthers look the goods to me in this one.
Over at Parklands Oval the season starts with an interesting clash between the locals, Northern Tigers, and the visiting Gladesville Ravens. There was a lot to like about The Ravens last season. With natural improvement, a bit of fine tuning of their squad and the footballing nous of Coach Paul Wade one may expect that the girls from Gladesville will press the leading clubs in the race for the finals this season.
The Tigers have a promising bunch of young players stepping out in their colours this season. That in itself guarantees plenty of enthusiasm. But will enthusiasm be enough when the pressure builds? I for one am hoping that this policy towards youth at the Tigers pays dividends. If it?s not this season the experience these girls gain in 2009 may well bring home lots of success in future seasons.
I?m tipping Gladesville Ravens to hit the ground running with a successful start to the season. 
The final match of the round sees Central Coast Lightning laying out the red carpet for the girls from Southern NSW FC.
Central Coast suffered through a torrid Arrive Alive Women?s Premier League season in 2008. That lack of success is not something that Central Coast football is used to. The Lightning girls will be keen to reinstate themselves as a football power in quick time. Meeting Southern NSW FC in the first round is not an easy task as the Nowra lasses have proven to be a very competitive side over the last few seasons. Perennial finalist the Southern NSW club will be looking to start the season in better style than they did in 2008. This promises to be an exciting match up that should produce some good football.

I favour Central Coast narrowly.
St George FC has a bye this weekend pending the introduction of new club PCYC Ladyhawks next week. The match between St George FC and PCYC Ladyhawks will be played on a date to be advised. Good luck to PCYC Ladyhawks on becoming a part of the Arrive Alive Women?s Super League in 2009.
Good luck and good football for week one of the competition!
-By Ross Anderson