Welcome to the Friday Forecast ahead of Round 18 of the MyState Bank Women’s Super League season. With just three weeks remaining the ladder looks fairly cemented at this stage, but there should still be plenty of entertaining football on offer this weekend as we head into Round 18.
Red Hot Strikers Meet Misfiring Lions
The Devonport Strikers will look to continue their strong finish to the season and hold onto second place as they host the Kingborough Lions at Valley Road. It’s a battle between two sides with vastly different form lines as we creep towards the conclusion of the season.
Last weekend’s victory over Launceston United now has the Strikers seven points clear of last year’s champions, albeit having played an extra match leaving them firmly in the box seat for the runner-up slot. So a victory in this game here, or in any of their remaining three fixtures would require United to win their final 4 matches consecutively. With 13 points from their past five games and an impressive 22 goals scored in that time, this Strikers outfit is absolutely flying home and it would be a shock for them not to finish second at this point.
The Lions were served a blow last weekend in their aim to catch the Clarence Zebras and finish fourth as they slipped four points behind having also played an extra match. Those two will meet for the final time next Friday night, but without some points in this one, they could well find themselves too far adrift. After beating Launceston United the Kingborough Lions appeared primed for a top four finish but they’ve wilted somewhat down the stretch, losing their past five outings, including twice to bottom-placed Taroona.
The sides have met three times this season, with the Strikers holding a 2-1 head-to-head advantage. The recent meetings have brought plenty of goals with them, as the Strikers rebounded from a 6-2 defeat with a thumping 8-3 win in their most recent clash, granted the Lions were unfortunate to be reduced to 10 players. So we can probably expect plenty of goals from this one.
Zebras Host United In Rematch Of Round 3 Classic
Elsewhere on the Saturday, the Clarence Zebras will host Launceston United at Wentworth Park.
These teams have only met twice so far this season, with a washout postponing one of the prior fixtures and leaving these sides to play twice in the final weeks of the year. One of the meetings we did get was a potential game of the season however, with United winning 4-2 at Wentworth Park in a game littered with some incredible goalscoring. I'm still not sure that game has been surpassed this year in pure entertainment stakes. The second clash at Floorworld Park was less entertaining but it saw United once again walking away with a victory, claiming a 3-0 win.
The Clarence Zebras will be looking to build from last week and finish the season on a high. A positive result against last season’s champions to follow their hard fought draw at the home of this season's champs would certainly tick that box. They could potentially catch United in third place if they were to win both of the games against them, but that would be a massive ask on a young side that is still searching for consistency and still enter this one as the underdogs. Last week was an incredible effort, can they back it up?
It hasn’t quite been the title defence that their opponents Launceston United were after as they have fallen away in the second half of the season after heading into the Statewide Cup Final on the heels of South Hobart, where they appeared set to push them for the title. After being 6-1-2 at that point of the season, they’ve gone 2-1-4 since losing in the final and it has seen them pretty well locked into a third-placed finish. The final few weeks should be a chance for them to get back to winning ways and end the season on a high.
South Out To Sweep Pirates
On Sunday it will be top v bottom as South Hobart takes on Taroona FC, though it should certainly be a much closer game than the ladder positions and their early season meeting might indicate.
That first clash was a 9-0 win for South Hobart, but the two more recent meetings both ended 2-0 in South Hobart victories as Taroona has steadily improved. Now, with Jessie Williams in the side and two confidence-building victories accumulated, they will be out to play spoiler on South Hobart’s quest for an unbeaten season. Beating the Lions is one thing though, and beating South quite another, but as the Zebras demonstrated last week, they are gettable if you can maintain the focus.
South were rather flat last weekend, they just couldn't find a way through the Clarence Zebras rearguard, though a flat performance the week after securing the league title is hardly uncommon in world football. They have already secured the trophy and at that point, motivations can naturally wane a bit, which is why I am sure the coaching staff will lean into the undefeated season angle to keep that motivation up. The fact Jenna Farrow was going up for corners with 5 minutes to go and the score at 0-0 showed how comfortable they felt they wouldn’t concede, but also suggests to me this is a side who wants to win games, not achieve that record by simply not losing.
Round 18
Saturday 26 August
Devonport Strikers v Kingborough Lions, 12:15pm, Valley Road
Clarence Zebras v Launceston United, 2:30pm, Wentworth Park
Sunday 27 August
South Hobart v Taroona FC, 2:00pm, Darcy Street