MATCH OF THE ROUND
WARNERS BAY FC V MAITLAND FC
JOHN ST OVAL, SATURDAY 7PM
Warners Bay coach Craig Atkins says his side knows what is at stake when taking on Maitland at John St Oval on Saturday.
The Panthers arrive at John Street Oval with one eye on securing the inaugural NPL Women’s NNSW title should they defeat the Magpies on Saturday night.
Warners Bay are three points clear of second-placed Broadmeadow with two games to play, though the Panthers have a vastly superior goal difference.
Warners Bay have not lost a home game in over three months since being beaten 4-2 by Newcastle Olympic in round 10.
The last outing between the Panthers and the Magpies saw Warners Bay take out a 6-1 victory at Cooks Square Park in round 14 with Cassidy Davis netting a hat-trick.
For Atkins, he knows the reward that victory will bring to his side on Saturday evening.
“The girls know what is at stake and I've got every belief in the girls that they can get out there and do the job on Saturday night,” Atkins said.
“They believe in themselves as well so, our goal this weekend is to get the three points and secure that [premiership].
“Now heading down in the semi-final run now we want to be building that momentum. We were doing really well there but we probably just dropped off a little bit last week so, we need to get back to higher intensity.
“This is a dangerous game. Maitland looking at the form and what's going on these are games where they've got a team that will be looking to bounce back.
“The first game of the year we played them, it was quite a tight contest, they can play good football so I am expecting a really, really tough game on Saturday night.”
While Warners Bay have their sights set on the NPLW NNSW title, Maitland coach David Walker is expecting the tie against the Panthers to be a tough one.
“It'll be [tough]. Certainly based on our previous performances or the recent weeks performances so it will be a very tough game for us,” Walker said.
“The weekend was very below par for the standards we set ourselves so I'm hoping that this is certainly a bounce back from the squad.”
NEW LAMBTON FC V CHARLESTOWN AZZURRI
ALDER PARK, SATURDAY 3.40PM
Charlestown Azzurri will look to bounce back from their defeat to leaders Warners Bay with they take on New Lambton on Saturday.
Niko Papaspiropoulos’s team are one point behind Newcastle Olympic, who climbed ahead of Azzurri following their victory over Mid Coast FC.
Charlestown Azzurri thrashed the Eagles 13-0 at Lisle Carr Oval when they last met with Summer Taube and Lori Depczynski netting seven goals between them.
Papaspiropoulos is eager for his side to bounce-back and bring their efforts from the match against the Panthers into the tie against the Eagles at Alder Park.
“The effort and the desire from the girls to fight for the game was great and from a perspective of the mentality that the work was great too,” Papaspiropoulos said.
“It was great to see we still tried to stick to our style when we were in possession, so we want obviously to take those positives and continue to build on them in the following weeks.
“It’s something I've always said from the start. I’ve have had an incredible amount of faith in our girls and our players. I think we have the ability of playing well against any team and I’m sure they all want to get a result this week.
“I’m obviously disappointed not to get a result but if we can build on some of the things we did well and make sure we treasure the ball and a little bit better in key areas of the pitch.
“So I'm hoping for a determined approach and focus at training and to take that into the game against New Lambton and make sure we get a result.
Charlestown Azzurri could potentially be without Taube, Jess Gentle and Ash Gavin who will undergo fitness tests this week after missing the defeat to Warners Bay last week.
NEWCASTLE OLYMPIC V ADAMSTOWN ROSEBUD JFC
DARLING ST OVAL, SUNDAY 3.40PM
Newcastle Olympic Paul Devitis says his side will have to put together their best 90 minutes of the season if they are to overcome a tough test in the form of Adamstown Rosebud JFC on Sunday.
Olympic come into round 20 coming off back-to-back victories including a professional 6-0 victory over Mid Coast FC last week and a comfortable win over New Lambton.
Third-placed Olympic beat Adamstown 3-1 when they met in round 13.
Devitis said he expected the tie at Darling Street to be a close one and nothing like the last clash at Speers Point.
“We definitely know it's going to be a challenging game, a game that we're going to have to play at our best for the full 90 minutes because Adamstown have that pretty good never give up attitude no matter what the score is,” Devitis said.
“So we have to be at our best probably in a pretty physical game judging from the last few times that we played them.
“I thought we were really good defensively last weekend and we kept chances against us to a bare minimum and obviously that's going to be a goal for the next few weeks leading up to the finals to try and keep as many clean sheets as we can.
“The last time we played them as a very close game, I can't remember the score. But that was at Speers Point so, I feel like the game won't be anything like it was a Speers Point.
“The game conditions are completely different on a grass field so I think it'd be a pretty end to end game. It's going to be transition based, you know, because they seem to like to attack every time they get the ball.”
Adamstown Rosebud JFC will be buoyant after their impressive 6-0 victory over Maitland FC at Cooks Square Park.
Adamstown are on a three-game winning streak, having beaten New Lambton and Mid Coast in their previous two outings before their win over the Magpies.
Newcastle Olympic will be without Sophie O’Brien through injury while Jade Mcatamney will undergo a fitness test later this week after suffering an illness.
MID COAST FC V BROADMEADOW MAGIC
COOKS SQUARE PARK, SUNDAY 3.40PM
Injury woes will continue for Mid Coast FC as coach Mick Grass expects a number of players to be unavailable for the clash against second-placed Broadmeadow Magic on Sunday.
Magic will make the trip up to Taree following a comfortable 15-0 victory over New Lambton FC while Mid Coast were beaten 6-0 by Newcastle Olympic at Darling St Oval on Saturday.
Goals from Lucy Kell and Jordan Evans secured the victory for Jake Curely’s side when they met at Magic Park in round 13.
Grass expects this weekend’s clash to be a tough one due to player unavailability.
“It’s not going to be great. We have players out left, right and centre. We will most likely start the game with at least half the team out and the goalkeeper missing as well I'd say at this point. So we're not in good shape,” Grass said.
“It will be tough, obviously. Magic are doing really well and they are a very good team. We're pretty bashed up and bruised at the moment and we are just sort of limping towards the end of the season with a whole host of players out.
“It doesn't really matter what time you've got on the park. You can do a job for the most part. I was pretty happy with last week's performance again with a lot of players out, until the last few minutes where we just sort of fell apart.
“You can get a job done with the deployed team but it's going to take a lot of determination and efforts but as far as personnel availability, it’s the opposite. We'll do what we can do.”