Welcome to the Friday Forecast for another week as we reach Round 18 of the MyState Bank Women’s Super League season. As we enter the final month of the year, we reach what looms as a defining day in the title race with a crunch fixture looming on Saturday at Valley Road. The Devonport Strikers will host the ladder-leading Launceston United in what looms as the last major obstacle between United and the silverware. A positive result here and they can just about celebrate, but if the red hot Strikers can continue their form, then a nervy final few weeks will await United as the race will likely go all the way down to the final day. If they do slip up, then South Hobart will be waiting to pounce and they could well go top by the end of the weekend if they defeat Kingborough on Sunday. Elsewhere the Clarence Zebras look to make it 3 on the bounce when they take on Taroona.
Stern Strikers Test Awaits United
The weekend begins with a blockbuster as the Devonport Strikers host Launceston United at Valley Road. United sit two points clear on top from South Hobart, but they crucially have a game in hand and favourable upcoming fixtures. The Strikers are too far behind to realistically win the title themselves, but they could play spoiler for United if they were to continue their brilliant run of form and win here. The Strikers are absolutely flying right now. They’ve won their past five straight games and are unbeaten in their past ten. They have the best record in the league in that period and appear primed to offer a huge obstacle for Launceston United.
The two prior meetings this season have been close clashes. United claimed a 2-1 win at Valley Road back in Round 4 and the spoils were shared in Round 11 at Floorworld Park in a 1-1 draw. Each of those games could realistically have gone either way, so this looms as a game that both sides know they are capable of taking the three points from.
United’s last couple of performances have seen them wobble slightly. After being so dominant all season, the large margin of the 6-0 defeat to South Hobart was a little shocking, whilst the 2-0 win over Olympia was surely less than they would’ve expected given the large effort that went to rearranging the game which was in no small part to United feeling a 3-0 result from a forfeit would be inadequate. They’ve had some injuries to contend with and their depth has been stretched a little but they will be keenly aware they need to be much better this week against a red-hot opponent.
So can United get back on track here and play more in the manner they have all year long up to this point? Ultimately it may not matter either way, as the ace up the sleeve for Launceston United is that whilst certainly preferable to win this game, it’s not necessary. They can still lose this match and hoist the league title, provided they win their final three games. With those three games coming against the bottom three sides in the league, who have not taken a point from any top four sides all season, that is something they really should do. The Lions have been better of late though and I’m sure it’s a scenario they’d still rather avoid altogether and can do so with a bounce-back display at Valley Road on Saturday. The stakes are high and this should be a cracking game, you don’t want to miss it.
Second Placed South Look to Keep Up The Pressure
If United do slip up then South Hobart could potentially be on top of the ladder by the end of the Round provided they can defeat the Kingborough Lions when they meet at the Den on Sunday.
South would have played an extra game, so they wouldn’t be in the box seat, but it would ramp up the psychological pressure on a United side who they would then require another slip up from before the season is out. South would also have to defeat both the Strikers and Zebras in the following fortnight, so they remain very much outsiders in this title race, but with the form they’ve shown lately, they will be believing it’s still possible.
After a fortnight that saw their title hopes slim significantly when they drew with the Strikers and Zebras in consecutive games, South have been playing some super football of late. The 10-1 and 4-1 wins over Olympia and Taroona aren’t overly surprising, but the 6-0 demolition job of the previously unbeaten Launceston United showed a side playing at a very high level. They might have left themselves too far behind for it to ultimately matter but it appears they are determined to ensure United are at least forced to close it out.
The Lions pushed the Zebras last week and gave a good account of themselves but their long wait to take points from a side above them on the table continues. This will be the first of two more chances they will get to attempt that before the season is out, with Launceston United in the penultimate round still to come.
Zebras Warm Favourites Over Taroona
In the final game of the round, the Clarence Zebras will be looking to complete a season sweep of Taroona when the sides meet at Kelvedon Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Clarence Zebras are pretty well locked into a fourth-placed finish at this point though it’s still feasible they could leap the Strikers into third place if they were to finish the season with a trio of victories and the Strikers lost to United this weekend. That will be the ultimate aim, but there isn’t much to gain this weekend beyond taking care of business in a game they should be winning.
It’s been a long and difficult season for the Pirates, who will probably be eyeing off the final fortnight of the season when they play Olympia and Kingborough as their more realistic chances of adding to their points tally before the year is out. The next two games are probably more about measuring improvement from the first two times they’ve met the Zebras and United.
Those first two clashes with the Zebras resulted in thumping wins to Clarence, a whopping 15-0 the first time around and then 8-0 in the more recent clash at Kelvedon Park. This Clarence Zebras side are usually a pretty ruthless and free-scoring bunch and Taroona will need to be on guard against Caitlin Stalker in particular, who has pillaged 11 goals from the two meetings this season.