NPL NSW Women’s 2 Finals Week 1 Preview

After 21 weeks, only the top four teams remain with a chance to be crowned NPL NSW Women’s 2 competition.

The finals series is a three week series, starting this week with the Major and Minor Semi Finals. The Minor Semi Final is a sudden death match played between the fourth and third placed sides, with the loser being eliminated and the winner going through to the second week of the finals series. The Major Semi Final is played between the first and second placed sides, with the winner getting the week off and going straight through to the Grand Final and the loser playing the winner of the Minor Semi Final.
Minor Semi Final – Inter Lions vs Southern Branch; at Popondetta Park, Saturday 3.45pm
Just a week ago, Inter Lions and Southern Branch played out a 1-1 draw.
The two sides had previously won one game each – with Southern Branch winning 2-1 in Round 6 and Inter Lions winning 1-0 in Round 13. If those three match suggest anything, it’s that Saturday’s do-or-die Minor Semi Final will be a close one.
Southern Branch were the last team to secure their place in the top four, defeating UNSW Lions, then in fourth spot, 4-0 in Round 21 to move ahead of their rivals.
With a hat-trick from Madelaine Costanzo, a player who has been relied on for goals, scoring 15 in the 21 matches, Southern Branch were able to overcome what had otherwise been an inconsistent season. Winning as many games as they lost (eight), their comfortable win over UNSW was all that separated the two sides.
Inter Lions were also able to overcome a spell of inconsistency, ending the season with an unbeaten run of five games, which included four wins and a draw. One of those wins, their biggest result of the season, was a 4-0 win over runaway leaders Central Coast Mariners Academy.
At halfway point of the regular season, Inter Lions sat in second place, eight points off first but they then proceeded to lose 6-1 to Central Coast Mariners.
That loss, in Round 11, was the start of the spell of picking up only three points in six matches, losing five times. They were eventually able to recover from their freefall and will look to continue their good run of form in the upcoming Minor Semi Final.
Major Semi Final – Central Coast Mariners Academy vs Sydney Olympic vs; at Jensen Park, Sunday 3.45pm
There is no denying who will be the favourite for this Major Semi Final. Central Coast Mariners Academy went through the 21 round season with only two losses, winning the other 19 matches.
Top scorers, scoring 27 more than the second best, and with the equal best defence, Central Coast were able to wrap up the Premiership in Round 16.
They also made a statement against Sydney Olympic, emphatically beating their Semi Final opponents 6-0 in a rescheduled Round 21 match played on Wednesday night.
Central Coast Mariners Academy have now scored 16 goals in the final three matches of the regular season, well and truly recovering from their out-of-the-blue 4-0 loss to Inter Lions.
Sydney Olympic, just last week ago, had conceded only 18 goals in 19 matches.
Their 6-0 loss to Central Coast, as well as a 4-1 loss to Western NSW Mariners last Sunday, has blown their good defence record to bits.
If they are to have a chance to beat Central Coast Mariners Academy and book their spot in the Grand Final, they will need to re-discover their defensive solidity and hope that their strike pairing of Dani Calvi and Kate Halaska can take their chances.