The competition ladder is starting to take shape in the National Premier Leagues Northern NSW Women’s competition after seven rounds with things getting even clearer after Round 8.
Let's check out what is in store.
Match of the Round - Adamstown Rosebud JFC v Mid Coast FC
Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility, Saturday 7pm
Adamstown coach Ryan Campbell says his side’s impressive win over Maitland last week will count for little if they fail to beat Mid Coast on Saturday night.
Rosebud upset the high-flying Magpies 3-2 on Sunday night to get themselves back in the finals picture. A defeat would have seen Adamstown slip to eight points away from fourth place a third of the way through the season.
Adamstown, who had only beaten the bottom sides Mid Coast and Warners Bay heading into last weekend, are now right back in the hunt. Rosebud are two points behind fourth-placed Maitland having welcomed back Newcastle Jets player Josie Morley, with fellow Jet Leia Puxty expected back next week.
But as impressive as Adamstown were against the Magpies, Campbell said that win would mean nothing if they did not repeat the effort at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility.
“For me it’s the most important thing, just being consistent with how we approach the game,” Campbell said.
“Last week the girls really worked hard to try and make sure they got the result. But it won’t really be worthwhile if we don’t back it up this weekend. It’s an important one to get a result here because then we’ve got Warners Bay next.
“It’s a tricky one. Mid Coast are in a similar boat to us with a lot of young players. They’re a little bit inexperienced in first grade from that point of view. We’ve got to take advantage of that. They’re probably where we were a couple of years ago. We had players who hadn’t played a lot of first grade and were not used to backing up consistently.
“We’ve got to use our experience in those tougher games to our advantage.”
Adamstown have put more effort into their defensive game recently which showed last week as they did well to restrict the free-scoring Magpies.
Campbell said while Adamstown were always capable of scoring, they had simply conceded too many goals so far this campaign.
“We’ve had a big focus defensively. We’re a lot more organised and better at making sure we don’t give away too many chances,” Campbell said.
“We did a good job defending well [against Maitland] but also offering that threat as well. I think we need to make sure we’re compact and organised but that we don’t focus on that and then lose the ability to be dominant with the ball because that’s our biggest attribute. We have more ball than our opposition in most games. So it’s about finding the right balance.
“Overall we’re about where I expected us to be [on the table]. We were hoping to be in and around it, anywhere between third and sixth. It’s probably on par with what I expect us to be doing so far.
“We’ve had some really good periods of games so far but haven’t really put together a 90-minute performance. Last week against Maitland was the most complete performance so far. But I still think there’s a whole lot more we can do.
“It has been good to get a guide on where we are in relation to other teams. But now the focus has got to be on starting to beat teams in and around us. Obviously before last week we’d only beaten the bottom two so that was the first time we actually beat someone above us.”
Campbell has a full squad to select from, though Mid Coast player-coach Emma Stanbury has the opposite problem.
Middies will be without five first team squad members through injury on Saturday, including first choice goalkeeper Grace Davies (broken finger) and No.2 Finlay Harry (ankle).
Left wingback Chelsea Gallagher (broken wrist), Evie Gill (shoulder) and Liz Fraser (knee) will also be missing, with Stanbury also battling a hamstring problem.
“At the moment every week is a challenge… we’re down on numbers,” Stanbury said.
“Obviously the injuries give opportunities to other girls. Our first and reserve grade squads have been challenging each other really well. The competition is pretty close so I’m confident those girls can come up and do the job.
“It will be a bit of a reshuffle for first grade, definitely different to what we’ve done in previous weeks. I’ve matched players up against Adamstown and how they play so hopefully we can all do our jobs.
“I’m struggling a little bit at the moment as well but having Jorja [Holborow] next to me I should be fine.”
Stanbury, a former national league player with Adelaide United, Newcastle Jets and Canberra United, was full of praise for her young centre back partner Holborow.
The 16-year-old has put in some impressive performances so far this season, with Stanbury labelling Holborow the best centre back in the competition already.
“She’s only young but the potential she has got, if she keeps it up she could go so far in football,” Stanbury said.
“Hopefully her speed next to me with my smarts and my body position we can work well together.
“I noticed her potential straight away. Knowing she hasn’t been around elite programs before she’s a bit raw in terms of her technical ability but in terms of natural talent she’s outstanding. Physically she can match anyone, has tenacity at the back, she’s got vision, she’s smart and intelligent. And she’s got a bit of x-factor as well.”
Middies went down 5-0 to Adamstown on the opening day of the season with Tanya Jones scoring a hat-trick for Rosebud but Stanbury said her young squad had improved greatly since then.
“Obviously it will be good to be able to see how far the girls have come since the first time we played [Adamstown] and see what more we need to improve on,” Stanbury said.
“Adamstown will definitely be another good challenge. For the whole season, every single week it has been a similar story. Our girls are young and we’re in it for patches of games but unfortunately the scoreline is not reflecting our overall performances. That hope goes missing when we concede a couple of goals so it is about changing that mindset and making sure we play for the whole 90 minutes.
“The improvement I’ve seen so far is our young players stepping up to the speed of women’s football. I don’t think they realised how much faster it would be. We’re not there yet but you can see the improvement. I think that was one of our biggest issues, that speed of thinking, speed of play, speed of movement.
“Anyone who watches our games can see the talent there. But it’s about our girls stepping up another notch now.”
Newcastle Olympic v Warners Bay FC
Darling Street Oval, Saturday 4pm
Newcastle Olympic will look to continue their unbeaten start to the season when they host struggling Warners Bay on Saturday.
Olympic are top of the table, above rivals Broadmeadow on goal difference, having played one game fewer.
Olympic were impressive as they knocked Charlestown Azzurri from the summit last weekend, with goals from Jemma House and Elodie Dagg securing a 2-0 victory.
Warners Bay arrive at Darling Street rooted to the foot of the table, having suffered a 16-0 defeat to heavyweights Broadmeadow last weekend.
The Panthers have now conceded 87 goals on the way to losing their opening seven matches of the season.
Olympic won the grand final rematch between the sides 16-0 in round one, when Sophie McDonald scored an incredible seven goals and Marion Dunbabin scored a hat-trick.
Maitland FC v Charlestown Azzurri
Cooks Square Park, Sunday 4pm
Charlestown Azzurri will attempt to avoid a third straight defeat when they make the trip to Cooks Square Park to face Maitland on Sunday.
Azzurri made the perfect start through five rounds only to suffer back to back losses to heavyweights Broadmeadow (3-1) and Newcastle Olympic (2-0) in the last fortnight to slip from the top of the table to third.
Charlestown will look to get back to winning ways against a Maitland side also looking to bounce back after they suffered a surprise 3-2 defeat to Adamstown on Sunday night.
The Magpies had won four matches in a row heading into that clash and had been eyeing off a fifth-straight victory which would have taken them into third above Azzurri and only a point off the competition lead.
Maitland, who expect to get star attacking player Sophie Stapleford back next week following her Newcastle Jets commitments, will be out to make up for the one that got away when they met Charlestown in round one.
Azzurri won a tight opening day encounter between the sides 3-2 thanks to a spectacular Lori Depczynski goal late on.
New Lambton FC v Broadmeadow Magic
Alder Park, Sunday 4pm
Broadmeadow Magic will be out to keep the pressure on Newcastle Olympic at the top of the table when they face New Lambton on Sunday.
Magic arrive at Alder Park behind Olympic on goal difference, fresh from their 16-0 thrashing of Warners Bay last weekend.
New Lambton waited 634 days for a victory only to earn two in seven days, downing Warners Bay and Mid Coast in the last two rounds.
The Golden Eagles will get Jets pair Cassidy Davis and Lauren Allen back next week, with a third win in a row to put them in a good position. New Lambton are five points outside the top four but have a match in hand.
Broadmeadow ran out 4-1 winners in round one with Adriana Konjarski scoring a double.