Welcome to the Friday Forecast ahead of Round 14 of the MyState Bank Women’s Super League season. It's a weekend featuring a Cup Final rematch, a Safari Derby set to shape the battle for fourth place and Taroona FC returning to the scene of their best performance of the year as they meet Devonport at Valley Road.
Cup Final Rematch at Darcy Street
We will start at Darcy Street where we will have a rematch of the Women’s Statewide Cup Final, as South Hobart hosts Launceston United in the first clash between the pair since that KGV decider that South Hobart claimed 2-0.
Not too long ago, this would have shaped as an enormous match in determining the title race. Indeed, when the two sides met the week prior to the Statewide Cup Final and played out a genuinely thrilling 0-0 draw at Darcy Street, it seemed like a title fight was shaping to go deep into the season. Yet here we stand, just four rounds later and the title race is now seemingly settled. South Hobart hasn’t lost since that day, whilst United have dropped two matches to now find themselves 13 points adrift, albeit with a game in hand. Yet even if they were to win that game in hand, the 10-point gap seems decisive and incredibly unlikely to be overhauled. United can keep their faint hopes alive with a win here on Saturday, but at this point it would take a pretty spectacular implosion from South Hobart down the stretch to deny them doing what United did in 2022; claiming a League/Cup double.
United’s form line since the two sides met in the Cup final, of defeats to the Strikers, Lions and a last-minute win against Taroona certainly stands in contrast to South Hobart who have now won their past four, scoring 15 goals in that time and not conceding. They are on a six-game clean sheet streak and have only conceded twice in their past 11 WSL outings! Defence wins championships is the old adage, and so it is proving here once again, with a rock-solid defensive unit led by Bridie Cooling and rear-guarded by the competition’s premier goalkeeper, Jenna Farrow, proving impassable.
They haven’t conceded in three matches against United so far this year, claiming the Statewide Cup and first WSL clash 2-0, as well as that pulsating 0-0 back in Round 9.
United have shown the ability to create chances against them though, the woodwork denied them on multiple occasions in the Cup Final, whilst both goalkeepers were absolutely inspired in the 0-0 at Darcy Street. If United are to get a positive result this time around, then they simply need to be more clinical in attack when those chances do present themselves. Otherwise, it may well be seven clean sheets in a row as South continue their march to what seems an inevitable 2023 League title.
Strikers Look To Cement Second Against Pirates
At Valley Road the Devonport Strikers will look to pick up where they left off last week as they take on Taroona FC.
The Strikers flicked a switch from 3-3 against the Lions last week and promptly routed them 8-3 with Jazmin White continuing her stunning season and taking her season tally to 21 goals. She has probably already wrapped up yet another Golden Boot and must be contained here if the Pirates are any hope. The game was also notable for the appearance of Lucy Foote, who joined her sister Georgia King in the starting XI. Foote was previously one of the most dominant players in the State and adding her into the mix makes the Striker's side even more formidable, as she demonstrated by blasting a goal from 20 yards out on her return.
They are probably out of the title race at this point, even if they win their remaining seven matches, they would still need South to lose another three and also drop a lot of goal difference, but there is no doubt they are in the box seat for a second-place finish at this stage.
This looms as a daunting road trip, but Taroona have already shown they are capable of springing a surprise at this venue. Their lone point of the season came somewhat surprisingly away to the Strikers when they earned a 1-1 draw in their best performance of the year in Round 9. They’ve not been able to add any more points since that day, but they have been a vastly improved side ever since that match, being competitive in all four of their defeats since and not losing by more than 2 goals. It’s a step up from what they were producing earlier in the year, but honourable losses will only satisfy for so long and there is no doubt they will be keen to replicate their efforts from Round 9 here on Saturday. They managed to contain Jazmin White on that day, but can they do so again here? It's no easy assignment.
Fourth Place On The Line in Safari Derby
Fourth place will be on the line when the Clarence Zebras take on the Kingborough Lions in a Sunday Safari Derby at Wentworth Park.
The two sides enter this Round 14 clash tied on 15 points, albeit with the Zebras holding a game in hand following last weekend’s postponed clash against Launceston United. As such it’s set to play a major role in determining who ends the season in the competition’s top four placings. Both sides appear unlikely to catch the sides above them or be caught by Taroona below them.
Whenever the two sides have met this year, it’s basically been a guarantee of a close and exciting match. The pair have met three times this season and the score has been 3-2 in all three of those matches. They’ve been see-sawing contests in which neither side has dominated and they appear incredibly evenly matched across most of the pitch.
They’ve split the WSL clashes, with the Lions winning the first meeting and the Zebras the more recent, whilst in between those league outings, the Lions also won the Women’s Statewide Cup fixture. So it’s the Lions perhaps with a slight edge as they look to make 3-1 in the head-to-head ledger this season.
Neither side has spent too long in the ascendancy in any of the fixtures and all of them have felt in the balance for the majority of the contest, with both sides creating enough chances to win any of those matches. It's basically come down to who has been the more clinical on the day and that may well prove the case again on Sunday.
Round 14
Saturday 15 July
Devonport Strikers v Taroona FC, 12:15pm, Valley Road
South Hobart v Launceston United, 2:00pm, Darcy Street
Sunday 16 July
Clarence Zebras v Kingborough Lions, 2:30pm, Wentworth Park