Round 8 Preview – PS4 NPL 2 NSW Women’s

More than a third of the way through the season now and round 8 of the Playstation® 4 National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Women’s 2016 sees sides resume hostilities from early in the season, with a number of scores to settle from earlier results.
Inter travel to the struggling Mariners, new leaders Sutherland play host to Sydney Olympic, Southern Branch make the trip to Jensen Park, and the Northern Tigers look to continue their excellent form against Nepean at Mills Park.
Before that though, the Tigers travel to Peter Moore Park for their rescheduled match against Olympic.
Round 4:
Sydney Olympic FC vs Northern Tigers, 7.15pm Wednesday May 18^th at Peter Moore Park
This round 4 catch up fixture will provide a good test for both sides. The Tigers have all the momentum and are leading the league for goals scored, and with Olympic’s strength lying in their attacking play this could be an end to end encounter.
Round 8:
Central Coast Mariners FC vs Inter Lions SC, 2.05pm Sunday May 22^nd at Pluim Park NO.3
Things look grim for the Mariners off the back of consecutive 5-0 defeats, and to make matters worse they play host to the Lions this weekend. Central Coast showed a lot of fight in the early rounds, staying in games late and pushing teams, but lately the wheels have been coming off. They’ll have to scrap for everything this weekend against a physical and committed Lions.
The Lions will be looking to take out some frustration from last week in this match. They were frustrated by a determined Sutherland outfit last week and they’ll enjoy a little bit more freedom in this encounter. Usually dangerous striker Freya Hickey was deprived of any real opportunities at Harrie Denning, and if Inter can find her in space she’ll be odds on to increase her tally against the Mariners for the season.
Sutherland Shire FA vs Sydney Olympic FC, 3pm Sunday May 22^nd at the Harrie Denning Centre
Another big match this weekend for Sutherland here as they host title hopefuls Olympic. Sutherland looked like they were hitting a real grove at times against Inter and if their final ball can improve this weekend they’ll be supremely difficult for Olympic to handle. If Olympic are sloppy at all from their busy schedule they’ll be there to take advantage.
This will be the third match in 8 days for Olympic after their midweek catch up fixture with the Tigers. Last year they had mixed fortunes when the fixtures piled up, and unfortunately for them Sutherland are possibly the worst team in the competition to play with heavy legs. Hitting on the break will be key here for Olympic as Sutherland have a tendency to push up high, so if the press can be broken there’s space for Calvi and Halaska to run into.
Bankstown City FC vs Southern Branch FC, 3pm Sunday May 22^nd at Jensen Park
After an encouraging start tot the year Bankstown have dropped their last two games and will be looking for some kind of bounce back against Southern Branch. They were narrowly beaten in Round 1 in this same fixture, so they’ll have the confidence that they can go one better against the side from Nowra.
Despite their somewhat inconsistent form Southern find themselves in the top 4, and another win here could send them into second spot on the ladder. Scoring hasn’t been an issue for them this season, but having the third worst defence isn’t something a table topping side does – tightening that up will be a huge aim of this fixture.
Northern Tigers FC vs Nepean FC, 3pm Sunday May 22^nd at Mills Park
The Tigers have struck some form, and if they make the most of their midweek fixture against Olympic, a win here could send them top of the league. They’ll have their work cut out for them though against the usually miserly defence of Nepean, and things won’t be as easy for them as they were last week against Central Coast.
Nepean will have to rediscover some attacking verve here to ensure they can take the points away from the Tigers. Defence is not the strong suit of the home side, so if Nepean can apply significant pressure to the back four then they should be presented with opportunities to get on the score sheet. This one may turn into a real arm wrestle.
-By Eamonn Warner, PS4 National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Women’s Reporter