Smarter Than Smoking Women’s Premier League – Round 10
Penny TannerHoath

Nedlands 2 Mandurah 1, Queens Park 0 Subiaco 1, Beckenham win on forfeit over Cockburn.

Nedlands reversed their Round 1 score with a 2-1 win over Mandurah.  Mandurah coach Jason Washington-King was unhappy with the outcome and believed that the game could have gone either way. With regular goalkeeper Sara King absent, goal scorer Mel Spillman stepped between the posts, and Mandurah clearly missed her nose for goal. However her enormous kicks and great handling saw her pull off some fantastic saves.  Nedlands could count themselves fortunate that they managed to knock two goals past her..

Jayne Bennett claimed the first goal for Nedlands when Michelle Colebrook’s shot was cleared by Spillman with such force that it rebounded off Jayne Bennett and straight back into the net.  The second goal was equally as fortunate with Nat Spyvee’s tenatiousness paying off.  Her shot hit the underside of the bar and was deemed to have bounced across the line by the referee.

The second half saw Spillman swap the ‘keeper’s jersey with Mel Paschewitz and it paid dividends with her scoring a typical poachers goal.  From a corner Spillman beat her marker to the ball, and the Nedlands defender was unable to stop the resultant volley from nestling in the back of the net, just inside the back post. 

Mandurah’s wingers did a superb job of supplying crosses but the Nedlands defence did a great job of intercepting and stopping their endeavours. There wasn’t much to separate the two teams and Nedlands coach John Warrington was happy to take the points and keep Nedlands out of the bottom two.

Subiaco defeated Queens Park in a hard physical battle, with few clear opportunities, and some bruising tackles. This was the second time the two had met in as many weeks. Park had young N.Campbell and Manager Stacey Learmont injured as well as being tired having just returned from the National Championships. With both sides blooding new players, Subiaco with a new Scottish signing and Park with two new Canadian players, the game was a close encounter. The new Scottish signing gave Subiaco the edge, in a 1-0 victory.

Redbacks still have a game in hand, but if Balcatta win both of their postponed matches against Beckenham and East Fremantle, they could find themselves third on the league table on goal difference. Redbacks have a tough catch up game against third placed UWA, which they will need to win to keep themselves on top of the table.

Postponed fixtures due to players in WA State Teams at the National Championships last week: UWA v Redbacks, East Fremantle v Balcatta.

Fixtures Round 11: Cockburn v UWA, Northern Redbacks v Queens Park, Mandurah v Beckenham, Balcatta v Nedlands, Subiaco v East Fremantle.  Pick of the round must be the Redbacks v Queens Park sitting first and second on the table on equal points.  Not to ignore Subiaco that have pulled off some great results under former State Player Michele Matthews.

One to watch out for in the women’s leagues:
In Division 3 Beeliar are a team to watch with some former Internationals on the park including hall of famer, Sandra Brentnall. With 88 goals scored and only 11 against and having not lost a game so far they are a force to be reckoned with. This team was promoted from Division 6, their first year in the competition 2007.