Women's Premier League: Round 11 Review

Round 11 saw the Northern Redbacks close the gap on Balcatta courtesy of victory over East Fremantle, Queens Park continued their midseason revival as they overran local neighbours Beckenham and Subiaco AFC equalised to share the points with UWA-Nedlands.

East Fremantle v Northern Redbacks

A dominant second half performance from Tim Hodgson’s Northern Redbacks has seen them defeat East Fremantle 3 – 0 at Wauhop Park. With only one point separating the two sides, this was a battle for second position and the tight and entertaining opening 45 was indicative of the high stakes. Both sides poured on the pressure with East Fremantle striker Jessica Hunter and Northern Redbacks striker Lara Filocamo given little room to move. For the home side Casey Herberner and Sylvia Flynn were lively in the midfield while Nicola Williams squandered the best chance of the half just before the interval.

The second half saw the visitors come out fired up and they dominated play through Shawn Billiam and midfielders Jayde Willis and Sarah Carroll. Carroll’s run caused havoc for the East Fremantle defence and she was eventually brought down in the 61^st minute only to see her penalty brilliantly saved by East Fremantle goalkeeper Morgan Cox. The home side looked to break on the counter with Ines Salgado, Ashlyn Miller and Herbener supplying Hunter but an organised Redbacks unit overwhelmed her. The pressure finally told in the 82^nd minute with Billiam getting the breakthrough before late goals from Carol Howes and Lara Filocamo ended the contest.

Queens Park v Beckenham Angels

Queens Park Thunder has continued their mid-season revival with a strong 3 – 1 win over the Beckenham Angels. The last time the two sides met was in the Smarter than Smoking Women’s Cup with the visitors recording their first victory over Queens Park. However, this weekend it was a vastly different Queens Park that took the field as they overwhelmed the visitors. Goals to the returning Stacey Woodfin and forwards Ellis Glanfield and Monique Gordon were enough to see the home side over the line. Although the Angels had progressed in the Cup with a mid-week Cup, Beckenham struggled to get into the contest despite the best efforts of Sarah Van Snick, Claire Wragg and goalscorer Adelaide Knowles. The win sees Queens Park remain in fourth position as they look to close the gap on the ladder leaders. Meanwhile Beckenham remain in seventh position ahead of a challenging run of matches.

UWA-Nedlands v Subiaco AFC

UWA-Nedlands and Subiaco AFC have played out a 1 – 1 draw at McGillivray Oval. The home side got the scoring underway when UWA-Nedlands were awarded a penalty after a handball shout and forward Sara Gunnarson duly dispatched it. However, Subiaco, who put in a noticeably better performance, were not to be denied and equalised through midfielder Brittany Dyer-Smith.

* Balcatta v Bunbury Forum Force has been postponed