COVID once again played a part in this week’s round of NPLW football with the eagerly awaited clash between 1st placed Perth RedStar and 3rd placed Perth SC being postponed. Fremantle City made the most of its two closest rivals not playing by beating MUM FC on Friday night, closing the gap to just two points between them and Perth RedStar. The loss was also MUM FC’s first of the season. Balcatta Etna’s win against Curtin University gave them their first points of 2022 and left their opponents pointless at the bottom of the table. Subiaco’s first victory of the campaign was an upset win against Hyundai NTC.
A foot in both camps
On Sunday Balcatta Etna hosted Curtin University at Grindleford Reserve, Balcatta. In the coaches’ dugout for Curtin was Dom Gangemi, who was recently announced as the Junior Technical Director for Balcatta. This dual role is probably not going to be mutually beneficial for both clubs as they have teams battling against each other in the NPLW and are both hoping to cultivate their own players for future teams. Regardless of his new role though, Gangemi has a big job on his hands with Curtin as they were comprehensively outplayed in this game between the two bottom teams. Balcatta had 25 shots and 14 on target, compared to 9 and 6 respectively for his team. The one bright spot for the away team was that they recorded their first-ever NPLW goal against Balcatta Etna when they took the lead through Danielle Suckling in the 59th minute.
Dog on the pitch
The game against Subiaco and Hyundai NTC produced the most bizarre goal of the season so far. Leading 1-0 at halftime, Subiaco doubled their lead in the second half as Phoenix Brownlie sent a speculative long-range effort towards the NTC goal. The NTC goalkeeper Lilly Bailey was clearly distracted by the presence of a small dog that had wandered onto the pitch and had taken up residence on her goal line. Whilst she was signalling frantically to the officials about its’ presence on the pitch, the ball sailed over her head and into the net. Players are always told to play to the whistle, but on this occasion, the dog was within Brownlie’s line of vision and was a potential hazard to her so she can perhaps be forgiven for not following the golden rule.
Colour clashes?
The Friday evening game between MUM FC and Fremantle City was won by Fremantle. City dominated proceedings with 14 shots to six and seven of those on target, compared to just two on target for hosts MUM FC. It was certainly an entertaining game for those following on the live stream, but there was just a hint of a colour clash between the two teams. Fremantle opted for a strip of maroon shirts, black shorts and maroon socks, while MUM FC’s home strip is red shirts with black sleeves, black shorts and black socks. Perhaps the Freo team manager had packed the wrong shirts, as their away strip of white shirts would have made for easier viewing.
COVID and injuries providing opportunities
The spate of COVID absences and players suffering injuries has forced teams to dig deep into their U21s already, even though only five rounds have been played. Fremantle started the game on Friday without Perth Glory skipper Tash Rigby and leading striker Mikayla Lyons, but this didn’t seem to harm them too much with the team producing a solid display in their absence. Other teams are also being forced to field teams with noticeable absences, and this is helping accelerate the development of their younger players.
The league still hasn’t established a pattern
After five rounds of a season, there is usually some semblance of a pecking order being established, but the disruption caused by COVID postponements means that just one team has completed all five fixtures, so it’s perhaps too early to judge how teams are faring. Some signs are still emerging though, and the top three of Perth RedStar, Fremantle City and Perth SC seem to be the ones who will set the pace for the season. As for the rest of the table, there is little to choose between the teams, with the possible exception of Curtin who will need to improve on their early season form if they are to make an impression on the league.
Click here for Round 5 highlights
Round 5 Results
MUM FC 1–3 Fremantle City
Balcatta Etna 4–1 Curtin University
Subiaco AFC 2–0 Hyundai NTC
Perth RedStar FC P–P Perth SC
League Ladder
| Position | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
| 1 | Perth RedStar FC | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 3 | 20 | 12 |
| 2 | Fremantle City | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 3 | Perth SC | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | MUM FC | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 5 |
| 5 | Hyundai NTC | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 4 |
| 6 | Subiaco AFC | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13 | -10 | 4 |
| 7 | Balcatta Etna | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Curtin University | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 14 | -12 | 0 |
