2023 NSW NPL Women’s Wrap – Round 9

It’s been another huge week in NSW NPL Women’s – there’s been returning faces, changing places, and new spaces for contests the likes of which we’ve never seen. We’ve got quality, frivolity and new mythology across the weekend, and Beyond 90 is here to cover it all!

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.

Theeey’re baaack!

It’s been a long time coming, but NSW’s finest have found their way back to their NPLW clubs for the remainder of season 2023. With the A-League Women drawing to a conclusion last weekend, players are now able to make the switch to the state leagues, allowing the likes of Angelique Hristodoulou, Rhianna Pollicina, Gema Simon, and Morgan Aquino to line up for their respective winter clubs.

Macarthur and APIA Leichhardt were the first two clubs blessed with A-League talent to do battle, a match which saw Pollicina, Holly McNamara and Melissa Càceres all on the scoresheet, while Hristodoulou, Susan Phonsongkham and Olivia Price all notched goals across the week. With grand finalists such as Princess Ibini, Nat Tobin, Cortnee Vine and Mackenzie Hawkesby not back in the NPLW fray just yet, we wait with bated breath to see how their inclusion will shape the season to come. 

Sometimes equality isn’t the best idea

Former Navy football coach Eddie Erdelatz once described a draw as “like kissing your sister”, and with a simile like that in the public consciousness it’s difficult to not feel a tinge of disappointment for the four teams that have taken a single point from one-third of their matches this season. Bulls Academy, Sydney University, and Manly United have 12 draws from 27 games between them, while Bankstown City have managed an incredible six draws from nine matches this season.

While a point gained is always a point won, it’s the regret of leaving two points on the pitch that will eat away at players and coaches alike across these four clubs. Not only that, but it’s difficult to overstate how different the table would look should those clubs have won all three points on each occasion: Bulls would be a point clear at the summit in their first top-flight season – an impressive achievement in itself – while Bankstown would incredibly climb from 11th to second place with 12 extra points.

Of course we at Beyond 90 are not advocating for anything as revolutionary as full-time shoot-outs or golden goal overtime – after all, this isn’t America or rugby league, whichever you consider to be worse – and although these results show just how equal the competition is, it’s difficult not to be entranced by the possibilities of results left unseen.

Here come the big guns

As huge proponents of the state knockout cup concept, an idea espoused on almost every Beyond 90 podcast episode, we’ve been loving the stories being written across the first two rounds of the inaugural Sapphire Cup this year. From last-minute winners for Lokomotiv Cove against Narellan Rangers to double-digit wins by South Coast Flame, Brookvale, and Seaforth, the quality of football and commitment to competition has been a credit to the Women’s Premier Leagues across the state.

This week will see 10 of the 14 NPLW clubs take their bow in the Third Round, and while it’s disappointing to see Sydney Olympic, Illawarra Stingrays, Bulls Academy, and Emerging Jets not competing in the Cup’s first iteration, there’s so many great match-ups to look forward to across the 16 games. 2022 NSW Champion of Champions winners Seaforth from Manly-Warringah FA and runners-up Coogee United from Eastern Suburbs FA will take on mid-table League One sides Mt Druitt Town Rangers and SD Raiders respectively, Albion Park White Eagles from Football South Coast will be looking to cause an upset against second-tier Marconi Stallions in Wollongong, while there’s a Central Coast derby as the Mariners will host Terrigal United under lights at Pluim Park.

The other feature of the competition has been an open draw in every round, meaning teams can be drawn against opponents from any available league every round as League One and NPLW teams are introduced in a staggered manner across the Second and Third Rounds, in contrast to FFA / Australia Cups of past years, where convoluted rules have forced men’s state league teams into matches among each other to ensure sufficient representation in later stages. Even so, with Blacktown Spartans vs Football NSW Institute the single all-NPLW fixture and Manly United, and Gladesville and Northern Tigers the only teams drawn to face League One opposition, NPLW clubs can thank the Draw Gods for their blessings so far, even if their intervention only delays the inevitable.

Around The Grounds
Sunday 7 May
Manly United 0 Bulls Academy 0 at Cromer Park
Illawarra Stingrays 2 Blacktown Spartans 0 at Macedonia Park
Emerging Jets 3 NWS Spirit 5 at Lake Macquarie RFF
Macarthur Rams 2 APIA Leichhardt 3 at Lynwood Park
Gladesville Ravens 2 Sydney Olympic 1 at Christie Park
Northern Tigers 0 Football NSW Institute 0 at North Turramurra Rec Area
Bankstown City Lions 1 Sydney University 1 at Jensen Park

Wednesday 10 May
Sydney Olympic 2 Bankstown City 1 at Peter Moore Field

Top Scorers
7 – Ashlie Crofts (APIA Leichhardt)
6 – Brinley Gentle (Emerging Jets), Leena Khamis (Macarthur Rams), Emily Minett (Manly United)