By: Andrew Cooling
After what basically amounted to a bye week in Round 3 with all 3 games being postponed, the Women’s Super League makes its return for Round 4 with a full slate of games currently set to go at the time of writing this. This season may well turn into a battle of attrition, with packed schedules later in the season to play those catch-up games set to test sides’ fitness levels out, but for now, most sides should be feeling fresh for what looms as an intriguing weekend of fixtures.
Top Two Square Off at Valley Road
The round kicks off with a genuine blockbuster as the competition’s current top two sides in Devonport and Launceston United square off at Valley Road.
Devonport has been very impressive in their first two games, downing Kingborough and Taroona but this represents a step up in quality of opposition and we might be about to learn if they are indeed legitimate title threats or are just sitting on top due to their early schedule. We have seen that the Strikers have plenty of quality throughout their side and with home ground advantage here you wouldn’t put it past them to maintain their unbeaten start. With the lethal Jazmin White leading the line and Georgia King marshalling the defence they will be a tough out for anyone they play, but there’s no doubt this is certainly the toughest opponent they have faced to date.
Launceston United might be sitting in second place, but with wins over the two sides who were probably considered the league’s title favourites in Zebras and Soutth Hobart across their opening two matches; It is they, who enter this as the side to beat and probably the competition front runners based on what we have seen so far.
Having lost Montana Leonard for the season with a knee injury, United have wasted no time in bolstering their squad with another star to replace her in the form of American import Alexis Mitchell. Mitchell has an impressive resume, playing NCAA Division 1 Soccer for the University of South Dakota, where her performances as captain earned her a spot at pre-season camp for the defending NWSL champions Washington Spirit. The NWSL is the top league in America and the competition that Sam Kerr played in for 7 seasons to give you an idea of the standard! Fair to say she is going to be a real player to watch out for and someone Devonport is going to need to stop if they are to maintain their unbeaten record. This signing is quite simply an enormous coup from United, and it suggests to me that they believe they can win the league this year and are going all out to get it. They can move top with a win here and despite being early in the season, this is a massive 3 points up for grabs and a mouthwatering match in prospect.
Lions Face Tough Test on Return
The Kingborough Lions last took to the pitch all the way back on March 19th. With a bye in Round 2 and then last week’s postponed game it will have been 22 days between games for the Lions when they take to the field on Sunday. That is an awfully long time to dwell on their Round 1 implosion against the Devonport Strikers, where they conceded 3 goals in 9 minutes to start the second half and lose 3-2 after having dominated the first half. I suspect they would have liked a game soon after, to quickly move on from it, but instead, it has lingered over them, and they have not had a chance to respond. That chance finally comes here against a strong South Hobart side who defeated them 5-2 in their Summer Cup group stage game and loom as one of the stronger sides in the competition based on what they have produced so far in 2022.
South will also be entering this one looking to bounce back from a loss after tasting defeat for the first time in 2022 in their last start against Launceston United. Whilst not good enough to deserve the points, it wasn’t a bad performance from them, and you’d expect they can get back on track here against the Lions.
Kingborough have a potent attack and should pose some problems for a South defence that struggled with the pace that Launceston United hit them with. The strike pairing of Davis and Kannegiesser could well exploit that in a similar manner and they both carry a significant goal threat. As their Round 1 match against Devonport emphatically displayed however, the defence looks to be a problem. If they are to take points here then they are going to need to be much tighter at the back to contain the threat offered by Bonnie Davies and that could prove too tough of an ask. I’m expecting plenty of goals in this one, but South should have enough quality about themselves to get back on track.
Zebras Look to Continue Bounce Back Against Taroona
The Clarence Zebras responded to their opening round defeat at the hands of Launceston United in domineering fashion, smashing a lazy 11 goals past the Olympia Warriors in Round 2 and they will be expecting to win comfortably again this weekend as they play host to Taroona at Wentworth Park.
We have only had one look at Taroona this year, a 7-0 loss away to Devonport and they will need to offer some significant improvements on that performance if they are going to get anywhere near the Zebras in this one. To be fair Taroona wasn’t at full strength for that match and should benefit from getting some key movers back into the side, but it wasn’t the most encouraging of opening salvos.
Last year it was a pretty comfortable clean sweep for the Zebras, winning 7-0, 9-0 and 3-0 in their 3 head-to-head fixtures, so trying to improve on those score lines and keeping it closer this time around is probably the realistic goal for the Pirates here, even if the Zebras aren’t quite the force they were in 2021.
That said, the Zebras could still very much be that dominant force, despite their slightly sluggish start to 2022. After all, in 2021, they lost in an unconvincing display in the Summer Cup, then lost to Launceston United 3-1 in Round 1 just as they did this year. They then reeled off 16 wins in their final 17 games to cakewalk the WSL title, so will history repeat? Just where the Zebras are at is probably going to have to wait till the month of May, when they will face South Hobart, Devonport and Launceston United in successive weeks but till then, they should be expecting to bank points in these sorts of games and pick up their second win on the bounce.
MyState Bank Women’s Super League Round 4
Saturday 9 April
Devonport Strikers v Launceston United, Valley Road, 12:30pm
Sunday 10 April
South Hobart v Kingborough Lions, Darcy Street, 2:00pm
Clarence Zebras v Taroona FC, 2:30pm, Wentworth Park, 2:30pm