Manly United forward Alexia Forner fires a shot on goal against Macarthur Rams at Lynwood Park. Credit: Joseph Baidengan (IG/joseph.baidengan)

NPL Women’s football made its long-awaited return to New South Wales this weekend, bringing with it a host of new faces and a pair of new clubs as well. With 14 teams now making up both levels of NSW women’s football, a 26-round season awaits fans from the Harbour City and beyond, bringing with it hometown heroes and pantomime villains, huge saves and brilliant goals, and hopefully some new household names as well.

This season Beyond 90 will take a look at the big talking points across the league every week, all the way up to the Big Dance in September.

Form is temporary, class is permanent

Having added yet another trophy to their club’s already crowded cabinet by winning last season’s championship, Macarthur looked to kick 2023 off in similar style against the previous year’s victors in Manly United. Having undertaken the fourth-longest away trip in NPLW NSW – shorter than only Manly vs Illawarra, Macarthur vs Newcastle, and the Steel City Derby – Manly was the first to trouble the scorers, opening the ledger from the penalty spot through Emily Minnett before Caitlin Jarvie doubled her side’s advantage just after the hour mark.

Conceding defeat appears not to be a concept found in the Macarthur psyche, and with their usual attacking triad of Laura Murtagh, Miku Sunaga, and Leena Khamis leading the line, the Rams continued to threaten Manly’s lead throughout the latter stages of the second half. With five minutes of regular time to play two of the three combined to claw a goal back for the home side, as the diminutive Sunaga won a flicked header in midfield to send Khamis in behind the Manly defence, leaving the former Matildas striker to deftly chip the onrushing Chelsea Barton to halve the deficit.

And just when the scores seemed settled, Macarthur somehow stole a point from the jaws of defeat; left unmarked at the back post and completely ignored by a zonal defence, fullback Amalia Plummer ghosted between defenders to head Kelli Brown’s corner beyond Barton’s outstretched arms to equalise at the death. While this draw may seem like another case of “they don’t draw pictures on the scoresheet”, Macarthur’s display grit this week will stand them in good stead as the season progresses, while Manly will have to wait until June to exact revenge on their own (artificial) turf.

An uncertain start for the Students

The winningest club in recent NPLW NSW history, Sydney University has long been a club that prides itself on consistency, success, and ability to draw quality players to its women’s squads. As well as excellence on the field, the club has produced A-League Women’s coaches in the form of Heather Garriock, Alex Epakis, and now Emily Husband, who will lead the resurrection of Central Coast Mariners in the national competition in 2023-24.

While Husband is still on board for the time being, University’s promotion of excellence has seen their squad thinned by A-League Women’s commitments, with fewer than half the team’s starting line-up having featured in 10 or more first-grade matches last season. Their opponents in the opening round, APIA Leichhardt, had a similarly youthful line-up, but despite missing players such as Princess Ibini, Claudia Cicco, Shea Connors, and Sarah Hunter from their 2022 squad, the home side leaned on the pace of newly-signed winger Ash Crofts, whose goals either side of the break set APIA up for success.

Only able to muster two goals when everything was over bar the shouting – one of which was a 85th-minute own goal – University will be looking forward to the end of the A-League season in the hope of announcing further recruits to lead another charge for silverware. Until then though, this young team will test Husband’s mettle as her club looks for a fifth-consecutive Premiership title, while the contenders snap at the side’s heels hoping to finally carve their name on the trophy.

Olimpicos are pretty darn good

Perhaps alongside substitutes being sent off from the bench and animals making their way on the pitch, there are few things in football as unexpected as the olimpico. To score from a set piece is hard enough, but directly from a corner? Incredible.

Matildas fans would recall Elise Kellond-Knight’s famous effort against Norway in 2019, becoming only the second player – man or woman – to score in this manner at a World Cup after Colombian midfielder Marcos Coll in the 1962 edition in Chile. Coll, whose goal came against legendary Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin, even earned the nickname El Olimpico among his countrymen for his incredible achievement.

Step forward Bankstown City midfielder Alexia Karrys-Stahl, whose in-swinging right-footed corner trapped Blacktown goalkeeper Makayla Kent on her goalline, able only to watch as as the ball rippled the net just inside the far post. Her first since mid-2021, Karrys-Stahl’s superb goal is already a contender for best of the season, and certainly the pick of Week 1.

Around The Grounds
Sunday 12 March
Gladesville Ravens 0 Football NSW Institute 2 at Christie Park
Blacktown Spartans 0 Bankstown City 3 at Blacktown Football Park
Emerging Jets 2 Bulls Academy 3 at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility
APIA Leichhardt 4 Sydney University 2 at Lambert Park
Macarthur Rams 2 Manly United 2 at Lynwood Park
Sydney Olympic 3 NWS Spirit 0 at Peter Moore Field
Northern Tigers 3 Illawarra Stingrays 0 at North Turramurra Recreation Area

    P W D L F A GD PTS
1 Bankstown City 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 3
2 Northern Tigers 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 3
3 Sydney Olympic 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 3
4 APIA Leichhardt 1 1 0 0 4 2 +2 3
5 Football NSW Institute 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 3
6 Bulls Academy 1 1 0 0 3 2 +1 3
7 Macarthur Rams 1 0 1 0 2 2 +0 1
8 Manly United 1 0 1 0 2 2 +0 1
9 Emerging Jets 1 0 0 1 2 3 -1 0
10 Sydney University 1 0 0 1 2 4 -2 0
11 Gladesville Ravens 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0
12 Blacktown Spartans 1 0 0 1 0 3 -3 0
13 Illawarra Stingrays 1 0 0 1 0 3 -3 0
14 NWS Spirit 1 0 0 1 0 3 -3 0

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