At the end of NPLW WA Round 3, Perth RedStar are the only team with a 100% record after they inflicted the first defeat of the season on Fremantle City. MUM FC remain unbeaten after drawing with Football West NTC and Perth SC beat Curtin University to leave the University team still searching for the first points of their season. Balcatta and Subiaco’s game was postponed.
Red cards at the RedStar Arena
For the second game in succession, a red card was brandished at RedStar Arena. Both reds were shown as the result of second yellows (for Football West NTC’s Mischa Anderson and Fremantle City’s Siobhan Longmore). There was a total of seven red cards in last season’s competition – Fremantle, NTC and Subiaco all recorded two reds in that campaign. On Sunday, Subiaco travels to RedStar Arena.
The Case of the Missing Linesperson
Prior to any game, there is the traditional line-up of teams and match officials before kick-off. On Friday evening there was a person missing from this as there was no second linesperson present for the Football West NTC vs MUM FC game. Their spot was taken by a member of the NTC coaching staff for the first half and the MUM FC staff supplied the linesperson for the second half. According to sources at MUM FC the first that either team heard of the missing linesperson was five minutes before kick-off when they were informed that the third official had not turned up.
Young players are on the rise
As well as being a tightly contested 1-1 draw, the game between Football West NTC and MUM FC was notable for the lack of any player over the age of 21. NTC is an U18 squad, but due to the almost complete re-build of the MUM FC squad from last season and a large number of players being unavailable over the Easter break, MUM FC also fielded a squad that was under the age of 21, and only had one player in the squad with more than 10 NPLW games to her name. On Saturday, another youngster caught the eye with Perth RedStar’s 17-year-old Olivia Woods producing another fine performance to continue her good form since the beginning of the season. Along with MUM FC’s Poppie Hooks, she is showing that there is some fine young talent in the league.
Curtin are more organised
Last season Curtin University had the worst defensive record of any team in the league, with 80 goals conceded in 21 games. This season, the numbers are looking slightly better with 10 goals conceded in three games. Those three games have been against the top three teams in the league, and only Perth RedStar have inflicted a heavy defeat on them (6-1 in Round 2). The other two games were 2-0 defeats away to Fremantle City and Perth SC. A lot of the credit for this effort must go to coach Dom Gangemi, who has his inexperienced squad working hard and being very disciplined in defence. They have still to solve the issue of a lack of goals, but by keeping things tight they are, so far, a harder side to beat than they were last season.
Perth RedStar reaping the rewards of experience
On Saturday Perth RedStar scored their third win of the campaign and welcomed Perth Glory player Kim Carroll back to the fold. She slotted effortlessly into a back four that included fellow Glory defender Sarah Carroll, plus 200 club member and ex-Glory defender Emily Dunn. Further up the pitch was another ex-Glory player in club captain Shawn Billam and ex-NZ youth international Jacinta Coleman, as well as last season’s joint golden boot winner Larissa Walsh (another 200 club member). At halftime, they were joined by Renee Leota who is yet another 200 club member and an ex-NZ full international. This vast array of experience is providing the base around which young players such as Olivia Wood, Grace Monteiro, Ruby Cohen, Jayna Ridley, Shivani Battaglia and Andreia Teixeira are being added to, and is a major reason why the team has had such a good start to the season.
Round 3 Highlights (click here)
Round 3 Results
Hyundai NTC 1 – 1 MUM FC
Perth RedStar FC 3 – 2 Fremantle City
Perth SC 2 – 0 Curtin University
Balcatta Etna P – P Subiaco FC
League Table
| Position | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
| 1 | Perth Red Star FC | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 9 |
| 2 | Fremantle City | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| 3 | Perth SC | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | MUM FC | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Hyundai NTC | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 4 |
| 6 | Subiaco AFC | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 1 |
| 7 | Balcatta Etna | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
| 8 | Curtin University | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10 | -9 | 0 |
