2023 NSW NPL Women’s Wrap – Round 2

Summer made one last dash for the finish line this week, and the immortal words of Rob Thomas, it was a hot one!

Games across the weekend were rescheduled into the evening on the hope of moving more than seven inches from the midday sun, meaning fans were treated to football played in sparkling twilight. With perfect conditions for attacking football and teams getting closer to their peak by the day, everything was just right for another round of brilliant NPL Women’s action…

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.

Toot toot – all aboard the Olympic hype train!

It’s probably fair to say Sydney Olympic are having a pretty good time of things at the moment. Two wins from two games, two clean sheets, and four goals – all to different goalscorers – point to a team fit and firing at the start of the season.

Having signed goalkeeper Courtney Newbon, defender Ashley Irwin, and midfielders Brianna Oliverio and Ebony McCue-Shore from Sydney University, securing the services of former Moreton Bay United striker Allira Toby, as well as welcoming back a fully-fit Teresa Polias, Olympic are flush with talent early in the season. The potential return of A-League Women players Jada Whyman, Charlotte Mclean, Cortnee Vine, and Mackenzie Hawkesby would see this team absolutely heaving with talent, and leave manager George Beltsos with a few selection headaches in the months ahead.

This week’s win against Blacktown Spartans may not have been one for the picture books, as they hit both uprights from distance and squandered a free header from six yards, but Irwin’s first-half bullet header prevented what could have become a game of chess from descending into midfield monotony and forced both teams to push forward in the second stanza. History may not be on Olympic’s side – either as a team starting the season 2-0, or in terms of their NPLW trophy drought – but this side looks destined to challenge for silverware even after just two rounds of play.

Another season of even-stevens? 

It’s two weeks into the season and while Olympic are flying high atop the ladder, we’re already down to a single undefeated team. With Northern Tigers and Sydney University playing an early-season classic, and APIA and Bulls Academy doing the exact opposite, we’ve already seen the league standings spread out beyond what one we’d expect to see across the course of a season as teams find their feet in the new season.

With that said, any long-time observer of NPL Women’s competitions across the country would know that with age-group international matches popping up throughout the season like rogue mint plants in a freshly-mulched vegetable garden – not to mention an entire Women’s World Cup tournament in July and August – there’s no way to take these results as anything other than inconsistent. As they say, the plural of anecdote is not data.  

Matt Costantini, never change

As one of many fans of the Dark Arts here at Beyond 90, it goes without saying that this author is equally enamoured with the odd ironic cheer from the crowd or an overly-exuberant goal celebration every now and then. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of light-hearted fun among teams, or between players and fans for that matter, as long as it’s all in good taste.

While it feels as though IFAB and FIFA have slowly wrung any expression of individualism or joy out of football with progressively-tighter bans on things like celebrating with fans, removing one’s shirt after a goal, and even the wearing of wedding rings on the pitch, there are still glimmers of humanity if you know where to look.

Step forward, Bankstown City manager Matt Costantini.

Frustrated by his side having trailed Gladesville Ravens for almost an hour in his first meeting with the newly-promoted club since losing the 2019 NPL Women’s 2 grand final as coach of APIA Leichhardt, Costantini’s delight after Siobhan Edwards’ equaliser was palpable, sprinting down the touchline waving his finger towards the opposing bench like Jose Mourinho in his prime.

Whether Costantini’s actions were those of a man locked in an 85-minute war of words, or simply one with a long memory, we’ll never know. One thing you can be sure of though, is that no matter what the rule book says, there’ll never be a law against feeling that rush.

Around The Grounds
Saturday 18 March
NWS Spirit 2 Macarthur Rams 1 at Christie Park
Sunday 19 March
APIA Leichhardt 0 Bulls Academy 0 at Lambert Park
Blacktown Spartans 0 Sydney Olympic 1 at Blacktown Football Park
Sydney University 2 Northern Tigers 2 at Valentine Sports Park
Bankstown City 1 Gladesville Ravens 1 at Jensen Park
Illawarra Stingrays 0 Manly United 3 at Macedonia Park
Football NSW Institute vs Emerging Jets – postponed