Welcome to the Friday Forecast for Round 15 of the MyState Bank Women’s Super League season. After a fortnight’s hiatus for the Women’s World Cup, the Super League returns for the final 6 weeks of the season, and it returns with a set of interesting fixtures spread across the entire weekend.
Lions and Pirates Battle Underneath Friday Night Lights
The Round will begin with a rare Friday night fixture as the Kingborough Lions take on Taroona FC at Lightwood Park.
The Lions were probably pleased to have had the fortnight off to regroup after a couple of disappointing outings in the two weeks leading into it. Hammered by the Strikers, then outplayed by a Zebras side they were looking to leap on the table, it wasn’t quite the follow-up they were looking for after a highly impressive victory over Launceston United. It leaves them 3 points behind a Zebras side who also have a game in hand on them and they are now in a real scrap to get up into fourth place. This fixture, coupled with the Zebras tough fixture against South Hobart, represents a big opportunity for them to make up some ground in that pursuit this weekend though.
The sides have met twice so far this season with the Lions scoring victories on both occasions. The first time around was a pretty comprehensive 6-2 win, whilst the second time around was a much tighter 2-1 result.
That more recent result is perhaps more indicative of what to expect this time around, as Taroona have certainly been a much-improved outfit as the season has worn on. But for all the strides they have made, they still have just a single point to show for it. With the Lions the side currently nearest to them on the table, this does appear one of their better chances to get themselves a breakthrough victory before the season is out.
They have announced a signing that could well see get go a long way to securing that first victory, with former Matildas youth player, Jessie Williams, set to play for them for the remainder of the season. Williams has been playing Australian Football of late, but last time she came in for a late-season cameo, she almost single-handily swung the 2019 WSL title to the Hobart Zebras. She scored a series of match-winning goals and produced some incredible performances that saw the Zebras steal the title away from Olympia on a dramatic final day of the season. The stakes are a little different this time around, but don't be shocked if she swings some results again. She is an incredible talent.
Battle For Second Intensifies as Strikers Host United
On Saturday, the Devonport Strikers will look to cement themselves in second place on the table as they play host to third-placed Launceston United at Valley Road.
The Strikers will enter the fixture four points ahead of United, though the Launceston side has played one fewer match. So a win here would see that gap expand to seven points and even with the extra game to play, there just isn’t much time left in the season for a margin like that to be overhauled by United. As such this looms as an absolutely pivotal game in sorting out the battle for second place on the table.
The last meeting between the pair was one of the more surprising results of the season. The Strikers absolutely smashed the then-second-placed United 5-0 on their home patch of Floorworld Park. The earlier meeting at Valley Road was also rather one-sided as the Strikers chalked up a 3-0 win. So they are now 2 big wins from 2 meetings so far this year and appear to match up very nicely with the defending champions. Jazmin White has scored six of those eight goals, so it's pretty clear where United need to apply the clamps if they are to reverse that trend. Although executing plans to shut down the league’s leading markswoman are obviously far easier in theory than in application. If United want to get themselves back in the fight for second place, they are going to need to find a way to do so though.
United have wavered as the season has progressed and have only won 1 of their past five games, so the fortnight off was probably a good thing for them to be able to go back and regroup somewhat. The Strikers by contrast have won 4 of their past 5 and with 15 goals in their past 2 outings, are in absolutely scintillating touch. If they carry that into Saturday, then it might become three big wins from three matches this season.
South Close In On Securing Title
South Hobart will look to take another step towards officially wrapping up the 2023 league title as they head to Wentworth Park to take on the Clarence Zebras.
Pending other results around the league, they could well have it locked down as soon as next weekend, with their 12-point gap with just 6 games remaining all but insurmountable at this point of the year. It’s been a mighty impressive campaign from the Statewide Cup champions and they sit on the precipice of replicating Launceston United from last season and completing the double.
South have proved too strong for the young Zebras side in their previous two encounters this year, running out 3-0 and 6-0 victors, and having too much firepower for their opponents to contain.
This should be a good test for the Zebras to see how they are coming along, and a good challenge for their youngsters, but it would be a surprise if they ended South’s long winning run here. The fortnight off probably came at a bad time for the Zebras who had strung consecutive victories together and the 2-0 win over Kingborough that saw them jumping up into fourth place was probably their most impressive performance of the year. They don’t have the chance to build momentum from that performance, but it does suggest that they are capable of testing South a little more this time around.
To do that they will need to find a way to score on this South team though, which is something that has proved impossible for the rest of the competition in recent months. South’s clean sheet streak has continued to charge on, as their defence continues to shut out sides week after week. They haven’t conceded in their past seven WSL matches and have only conceded twice in their past 13. It’s an imperious record and a big reason for why they sit on the cusp of wrapping up the silverware so far from the finish line.
Round 15
Friday 5 August
Kingborough Lions v Taroona FC, 8:15pm, Lightwood Park
Saturday 6 August
Devonport Strikers v Launceston United, 12:15pm, Valley Road
Sunday 7 August
Clarence Zebras v South Hobart, 2:30pm, Wentworth Park