2023 NSW NPL Women’s Wrap – Round 7

It’s not the usual festival season in Sydney, but APIA Leichhardt and Sydney Olympic have cast those expectations asunder to put on another brilliant Inner West Festival of Football at Lambert Park this week. With every NPL team from the two clubs playing each on the one weekend, we were again reminded that clubs are much more than just senior squads playing on Sunday nights.  

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.

On the up and up

It’s difficult to not be impressed by the fortunes of NSW NPL Women’s two newly-promoted teams in Bulls Academy and Gladesville Ravens. Currently sitting fourth and fifth respectively, the two clubs have now defeated the likes of Illawarra Stingrays and Sydney Olympic in the first seven rounds, while also taking points from Sydney University, APIA Leichhardt and Bankstown City.

There are always those naysayers who claim expanding competitions will lead to a dip in quality as new teams require another squad of 20-something players, but this simply doesn’t seem to be the case this season. Outside the obvious omission of several A-League Women players unable to play before the summer competition’s conclusion, both Gladesville and The Artist Formerly Known As Northbridge have brought a level of grit, enthusiasm and footballing quality few would have predicted.

With promotion and relegation now back on the agenda after a two-year hiatus, it’s promising to see that these clubs have shown a blueprint to future promoted sides as to what is expected in the top flight. With the likes of University of NSW, Hills United and Central Coast Mariners pushing hard for that all-important ticket to the big time, there’s hope for even more new faces in the league in years to come.

Another Inner Westival in the books

As much as this author is loathed to describe APIA Leichhardt vs Sydney Olympic as a “local derby” – mainly owing to both APIA (Sydney University) and Olympic (St George City) having clubs closer to them than each other – Beyond 90 always loves to see clubs promote a rivalry and align every age group to play on a single weekend. With those criteria, it’s hard for us not to recognise the work put in behind the scenes by both clubs as they seek to galvanise their wider communities around the Inner West.

Founded by Italian and Greek migrants respectively in the 1950s, APIA and Pan-Hellenic are both richly historical clubs, winning four national cups and three national league titles between them across the 1980s, ’90s, and 2000s. Since their promotion to NSW NPL Women’s in the past four seasons, these two self-styled rivals have been among the chase for silverware each year, and while neither has lifted a top-flight trophy as yet, their investment in women’s football is to be admired, from improved facilities to original NPL players providing a blueprint for the professionalism and structure expected in senior football.

In the end the women’s match itself wasn’t much to write home about, as APIA ran out 3-1 winners at Lambert Park thanks to goals from Isabella Habuda, Isabella Coco-di Sipio and Ashlie Crofts. In truth though, the result isn’t the whole story: it’s youth players being included in matchday, it’s players running to their younger clubmates to celebrate a goal, and it’s the memories players throughout the clubs will take home to push them forward in their footballing endeavours. Without that investment from the clubs in their women’s teams and the inclusion of youth in whole-club celebrations like this, those stories wouldn’t be told and those memories wouldn’t be made.

Gentle As Anything

Sitting equal-top of the Golden Boot race with one-third of the season played, Emerging Jets striker Brinley Gentle is in white-hot form. Despite her team sitting bottom of the table with just a single point to its name, the homegrown Novocastrian has notched six goals in seven matches, including doubles against Football NSW Institute and last year’s grand finalists Northern Tigers.

A long-time Jets fan – often spotted at games wearing a club cape as a youngster – Gentle has worked her way through the age groups since making her debut for the club in the under-13s in 2016. Blessed with ox-like strength and a silken touch, Gentle has proven a handful for defenders far her senior this season, dragging her team’s goals-for column equal with premiership contenders Sydney Olympic and Macarthur Rams.

Still only 17 and now a mainstay of the Emerging Jets team, new manager Sam Griffin has in Gentle a local attacking talent who thrives off quality service and seems to love the physical battle. She might not have made an A-League Women squad yet, but if Griffin and his Jets can continue to push Gentle to the fore, that national league contract might only be a few months away.

Around The Grounds
Sunday 23 April
Bankstown City 2 Bulls Academy 2 at Jensen Park
Northern Tigers 0 NWS Spirit 0 at North Turramurra Recreation Area
Gladesville Ravens 3 Blacktown Spartans 0 at Christie Park
Sydney University 5 Illawarra Stingrays 2 at Sydney University Football Ground
APIA Leichhardt 3 Sydney Olympic 1 at Lambert Park
Football NSW Institute 1 Macarthur Rams 1 at Valentine Sports Park

Top Scorers
6 – Brinley Gentle (Emerging Jets), Ashlie Crofts (APIA Leichhardt)
5 – Emily Minett (Manly United), Leena Khamis (Macarthur Rams), Stephanie Augoustis (Sydney University)