Round 12 – National Premier Leagues Women’s Preview
Five points separate the top five teams at the top of the NPL NSW Women’s competition at the half way point of the season.
NWS Koalas v Football NSW Institute
North West Sydney Koalas welcome the Football NSW Institute to ELS Hall Park tonight.
A win for the home side is almost imperative in what is being billed as a real ‘six-pointer’.
They’re back on track after a couple defeats, making light work of the Spartans last week.
The Institute just keep scoring. And winning. And finally keeping clean sheets.
It’s all coming together for this young and talented side, only one defeat in their last eight matches, they are the team to beat right now.
BUT the Koalas did take the spoils back in round one, winning 1-0 that time at Valentine Sports Park.
Bankstown City v Emerging Jets
At 1pm on Sunday, Bankstown City entertain the Emerging Jets at Potts Park.
Things haven’t been going in the right direction for Bankstown, dropping down to 11th after last week’s games.
Four straight losses and five games without hitting the back of the net has City in panic mode.
It was finally a win for the Jets after 11 round on Sunday.
The win saw them jump above their next rivals and another victory will put some space between them and the bottom two.
The teams were locked in a tight 2-2 draw first time around.
Illawarra Stingrays v Blacktown Spartans
Blacktown Spartans travel south to take on the Illawarra Stingrays at JJ Kelly Park on Sunday.
Carmelina Moscato has her side firing and are one of three teams stuck on 24 points behind the league leaders.
They’ve won four on the bounce and will hope to keep their good form going.
Stephen Peters suffered his first defeat since taking the reigns at Blacktown.
A loss could put the Spartans too far away from a top five spot with victory of the utmost importance.
It was quite the clash when they met in round one, with Illawarra coming away with a 5-4 win.
Macarthur Rams v Manly United FC
All eyes will be on Lynwood Park as Macarthur Rams and Manly United do battle.
A couple convincing wins for the Rams have them full of confidence moving into round two of the season.
Norm Boardman’s side has scored 10 goals in their last two games with their front line in devastating form.
It was somewhat a surprise result last week when United went down fairly comfortably to Sydney Uni.
The loss meant they lost top spot and Chris Williams will hope his side can bounce right back in what will be a fine fixture.
The Rams took the spoils the first time they met in an exciting fixture.
Northern Tigers v Sydney University
Sydney University travel to North Turramurra Recreational Area as they face the Northern Tigers.
The Michelle Heyman lead Northern Tigers have suffered two straight defeats, halting some hot form they picked up mid-way through the first round.
To stay in touch with those finals places, points are imperative on Sunday.
Sydney Uni showed they mean business last round, accounting for Manly and hitting the top of the table.
Alex Epakis’s side has gone about their business and are travelling perfectly at the half way point of the campaign.
Expect a tighter game than the first one when Uni ran out 4-1 winners.
North Shore Mariners v Sutherland Shire
At Northbridge Oval, the North Shore Mariners take on the Sutherland Shire.
The Mariners were convincingly defeated last week but there were many positive points to take from that game.
Winless since round four, a loss could mean the end of their finals hopes.
The start of the second half of the season could mean a new beginning for Sutherland.
Zero points after 11 games, they’ll focus on improving from that and forgetting what happened over the last few months.
North Shore took all three points with a 3-1 win in round one.
By Nikola Pozder
