Women?s Super League Round 7 Preview

Despite the disruptions, the competition still continues to produce some excellent games and wonderful drama.
The marquee fixture this week, if not for its impact on the table, is the special Saturday kickoff between Parramatta Lady Hawks and APIA Leichardt at Melita Stadium. The Mothers Day Charity Shield Event will raise money for the Starlight Children’s Foundation and feature a variety of family-orientated activities such as face painting and appearances by Matildas players.  Lady Hawks should be commended for organising this fantastic event.
With a host of great events off the field, the real action will take place under lights when the fourth placed Lady Hawks face up to a recently conquered APIA Leichardt Tigers. Parramatta will be fresh after a few weeks off and will be confident they can match it with a Tigers side still hurting from their loss to Gladesville at the weekend.
APIA will sweat on the return of a few of their injured stars, most notably keeper Karinda Moodley who limped off after 5 minutes last week. Lady Hawks will know there’ll never be a better time to play APIA, and three points here would give them a considerable buffer over Olympic in the race for fourth spot.  The Tigers face a tough few weeks with fixtures against UNSW, Nepean and Olympic still to come.
On Sunday, all eyes will be on Magdala Park for Gladesville’s second top of the table clash in two weeks, this time against Eastern UNSW Lions. Gladesville sent a strong message to the rest of the competition last week when they tore apart the previously unbeatable APIA Leichardt and will look to claim outright top spot with a win in this fixture.
Both sides have played some impressive football over the first six weeks of the season, placing an emphasis on possession and ball movement.  All signs point to an entertaining and strongly fought contest with goals aplenty.
Sydney Olympic and Nepean FC go head to head this weekend knowing that with Lady Hawks up against top-of-the-table APIA, fourth spot may be up for grabs.  Olympic have somehow only managed to play three games but still retain fifth spot on the ladder. With games in hand, they will be confident of moving into a finals position with positive results in their next few fixtures.
Only three points will do here for Nepean, who risk slipping away from the rest of the chasers should they lose.  While it’s still early days, upcoming tough fixtures against the top four sides make three points in this game an absolute priority.
It’s a good week for teams in the bottom half as they face off against each other, a great chance for valuable points. St George host Northern Tigers in an absolute must-win fixture at St George Stadium.  Still without a point after four games, the Saints have already played APIA and UNSW and will hope to kickstart their season over the next few weeks against lower-placed teams.
Finally this week, Springwood welcome Northbridge to Summerhayes Park in what both sides will see as a completely winnable fixture. Springwood defeated Northern Tigers who drew with Northbridge last week. Simple logic points to a slim Springwood victory, but since when has football been so simple?  This one will go down to the wire.
Supporters can assume with confidence this week that we’ll see all five fixtures played.  Recent history has taught us not to be so sure.
-By Ryan Cropp