Round 15 – National Premier Leagues NSW Women Preview

Almost nothing separates the top five teams in the NPL NSW Women’s competition as we head into round 15.

Emerging Jets v Blacktown Spartans

The Emerging Jets and Blacktown Spartans clash at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility.

The Jets currently sit second-bottom on the ladder and have suffered three straight defeats.

Having picked up a point against the Spartans last time, they’ll look for all three on Sunday.

Blacktown sit 12-points away from a finals place with eight games to go.

They cannot afford to drop any points going forward.

Football NSW Institute v Northern Tigers

At Valentine Sports Park, Football NSW Institute host the Northern Tigers.

The Institute has been slow out of the blocks in their last two games but have shown great character in the second half to take all three points.

Seven straight wins and only one loss since round three posses the question, who will defeat the Institute?

Five losses on the bounce has more or less ended the Tigers’ finals hopes.

Nevertheless, they won’t roll over and could be a stumbling block to many teams a top the ladder.

North Shore Mariners v Illawarra Stingrays

Next door, also at Valentine Sports Park, the North Shore Mariners take on the Illawarra Stingrays.

It hasn’t been a great run for the Mariners, picking up only one win since round four in the competition.

The Stingrays have been in fairly good form minus the heavy defeat against the Institute two weeks ago at the same venue.

They continue their hunt for the Premiership and cannot drop any points in the run in.

Sydney University v Bankstown City

Sydney Uni and Bankstown City take battle at Sydney University Football Ground.

With Sydney Uni not playing last week due to wet weather, they lost their hold on top spot.

A win here could put them straight back on top with a game in hand.

Bankstown have only one win in their last eight matches.

They improved in the last few weeks and will be keen to surprise Uni on Sunday.

Manly United v NWS Koalas

At Cromer Park on Sunday afternoon, Manly United will host the North West Sydney Koalas in an epic clash.

Good teams win when it’s toughest and things aren’t going there way, this has been the case with Manly over the last couple weeks.

They’re right in the battle for the Premiership and cannot drop points if they want to lift the trophy.

The Koalas have the quality across the park to really hurt United if they’re not on their game on Sunday.

They’ve continued to improve but will almost certainly miss out on finals if they do not win on the weekend.

Macarthur Rams v Sutherland Shire

Macarthur Rams return to Lynwood Park on Sunday as they host Sutherland Shire.

Despite sitting in fifth spot, Macarthur are only two points off first place on the ladder.

They shouldn’t find it too difficult to take all three points from this one and a massive victory the last time they met will give them confidence of a similar performance.

Sutherland’s defeat against the Rams last time will still be etched into their memory.

Sutherland has drastically improved over the last few weeks and would be quietly confident they could shock the Rams on Sunday.

BY Nikola Pozder