Welcome to the Friday Forecast ahead of Round 14 of the MyState Bank Women’s Super League. With Launceston United, Olympia and South Hobart all out of action this weekend the focus is on sorting out the rest of the table, with third playing fourth and fifth playing sixth. That should give us a pair of interesting and hopefully closely fought clashes in the two games we do have following the Warriors and United postponement.
Will Defence Dominate Again in Strikers v Zebras Clash?
Kicking off the day and the Round at Wentworth Park, the Clarence Zebras will take on the Devonport Strikers in the third meeting between the sides this season. Both prior games have been dour, tight contests that have been dominated by defences and resulted in a pair of 1-0 final scores. The wins have been split with the Zebras winning in the league and the Strikers turning the tables on them in the Statewide Cup Quarter Final. So will we get more of the same here? I would expect so. Top 4 v Top 4 games have almost exclusively been closely fought contests this year and given both have a draw with South Hobart as their most recent result, their recent form suggests they are still as tightly matched as they were when they last played. The Strikers are well aware of the firepower the Zebras possess and have set up effectively to stifle them in both prior games.
Devonport currently sit five points back of the Zebras but they do have a game in hand on them. So if they win this then they would be in a strong position for a third, or potentially even a second placed finish. A loss and they are almost certainly set to finish in fourth place so you could argue that the game is slightly more important for the Strikers.
The Zebras will enjoy home ground advantage this time around having played the last two games at Valley Road and that might be enough to swing things back in Clarence’s favour though the Strikers have drawn with both United and South in their past two games indicating they don’t have too many issues playing on the road.
Lions and Pirates Set for First Clash
Following that is a fixture we have yet to see at any point this season as Taroona host the Kingborough Lions. The first clash was postponed and has yet to have been caught up on, so this will be the first of 3 times they will play each other in final couple of months of the season.
Both sides enter this game with similar records. They both have 8 losses at the hands of the top 4 and 2 wins over Olympia. These three head-to-head games are going to sort out who finishes in fifth place and who finishes in sixth on the final table.
Despite those similar records it does feel as if the Lions are closer to those top 4 sides than Taroona. Whilst they’ve certainly had some blowouts losses, they’ve also had some competitive clashes with the top 4 sides which can’t really be said of the Pirates. A 5-1 loss to Launceston United was as close as Taroona have gotten whereas the Lions have a pair of 3-2 losses against the Zebras and Devonport, as well as their run to the Cup Final which saw them grabbing a win over the Strikers. So the Lions ceiling appears to be a little higher than the Pirates, but it’s tough to be too confident on any side who has a 7-0 and 10-1 loss among their last 3 results. Those recent results must give the Pirates some confidence that they can get themselves a win here and climb above the Lions. This is a defence they can certainly get at, indeed both teams will probably feel confident about scoring a few, it’s keeping them out that has been the problem.
Both sides are going to be eyeing this off as a big chance for points. Taroona’s home field advantage at Kelvedon Park should make life tough, though speed in behind has been the way the Lions have been exposed a bit this year and I’m not sure the surface will really be suited to slick balls in behind It could be a bit of a physical slug looking at the weather forecast and less about pretty football and more about pragmatic stuff. Who can execute a good wet weather game plan? The side that does will hold the edge in the battle for fifth place.