Check out the match reports and reviews for that latest round of the Smarter Than Smoking Women's Premier League.

Mandurah 4 Beckenham 2
A festival of football at the Hyundai Stadium kicked off with the women’s side of the game, followed by Glory and then Mandurah’s premier men’s side and the women set the tone for the day with end to end entertainment.

The feast of goals started with Mandurah’s Ellis Glandfield and Beckenham’s Jaime Gale each scoring to make it 1-1 in the first half.  Mandurah’s sweeper Sarah Wise, limped off injured with a hamstring strain, but her team mates rallied and extended their lead.  Claire Wragg narrowly missed equalising for Beckenham when her header hit the bar from a corner.  N. Pritchett put Mandurah 3-1 ahead with a well placed shot.

Beckenham’s left winger Lizzie Scott dribbled past three players only to miss an open goal. Mandurah’s prolific goal machine Mel Spillman was in the meantime being kept very quiet by Sarah Van Snick. Deep into the second half Stacey Savage scored from a free kick to make it 4-1 to the home side.  A Beckenham striker was brought down in the box with the penalty was saved by Sara King, but D. Jeans pounced on the rebound to pull Beckenham back to 4-2.

Mandurah were able to draw on a larger pool of players this week, which included the return of former Australian keeper Sara King, while Beckenham Coach Leo Coppens was left ruing the fact that missed opportunities and a limited back up on the bench restricted his team on the day. Jason Washington was the happier coach, after losing last week to Nedlands 2-1, he welcomed back the experienced King and her steadying influence in defence.

Northern Redbacks 1 Queens Park 2
This was the match of the round, first placed Northern Redbacks against second placed Queens Park. Queens Park’s win sees them take over the vanquished Redbacks at the top of the table.

It was clearly two very contrasting styles on display, reflecting their coach’s philosophies.  One team playing a patient passing game whose goals come from a number of players within the team, while the other was a very determined and tough side, relying on a lethal spearhead for their goals.

Steve Woodfin has filled some defensive gaps with the 20 year old Sutcliffe twins, recently over from playing University soccer in Canada. This worked in being able to supply some great passes to utilise Learmont’s pace. The first half saw Stacey Learmont's rampage down the wing cut back sweetly for Gemma Langley to put Queens Park ahead 1-0. 
Seventeen year old Lara Filocamo, just promoted from the first division and who has been out injured for 4 weeks, marked her return by scoring just after half time to equalise for Redbacks.

With Nicola Williams absent with a plaster cast still on her wrist, Carys Hawkins was again playing in the midfield for the Redbacks.  Hawkins is regarded as one of the top 5 best midfielders in the state, with her vision and passing ability, she directs much of Redbacks’ team play. Even with Hawkins working tirelessly, they created few clear chances through a tough and determined Queens Park midfield. 

Jen Jobling played superbly in goal deflecting several goal-bound shots, but Learmont’s speedy reactions saw her intercept a goal kick and score to put her side 2-1 up to secure the game.

Tim Hodgson the Redbacks’ coach put his best team available, with the exception of Williams, on the park, but will have to rethink how his team can combat Learmont’s pace, which was the cutting edge for Queens Park, before the two sides meet again.

Balcatta 2 Nedlands 1
Balcatta left no doubt from the kick off that they were out there to improve on their fourth position on the table.  J. Carley scored inside of ten minutes after a shoulder to shoulder tussle with Katy Rutter, where both players jostled for the last touch. Carley won the battle and slipped the ball past a stranded TannerHoath in the Nedlands goal to give Balcatta a 1-0 lead.

Balcatta Captain Jessine Bonzas was sent off inside 20 minutes for elbowing Sarah Freedman.  The defence reshuffled and Amanda Tana had her work cut out diffusing speedster Ash Harling’s runs into the box.

Nedlands needed the half time break and inspiration from caretaker Coach Dan Evans to realise they had the upper hand. Nedlands pushed forward and wide in the second half and put the Balcatta defence under constant pressure.  Within 10 minutes a smooth passage of play saw Jayne Bennett slip the ball past Lisa Tana in goal, to make it 1-1. 

It was not all one-way traffic as Balcatta pulled Nedlands apart with some quick switches of play and trademark crosses from their wingers into the huge space in behind the Nedlands defence.  Some timely tackles from Michelle Kent, Rae Stanton and Captain Rana Amsha saved their ‘keeper from most of the pressure.

With 10 minutes to go a well timed pass split the defence, leaving central defender Rana Amsha on the half way line well ahead of her defence.  J. Carley struck again latching onto the ball and raced through to finish with a lovely chip over the keeper and capped another Balcatta win.  The game ended 2-1.

Subiaco 0 East Fremantle 0
Some great football was played by both sides in a scoreless draw that kept these two sides in the same positions on the table, fifth and sixth.  Cindy Morgan, Jen Chantler and Mel Gonzalez stood out for Subiaco.  Scottish import Caroline Hather frustrated the East Fremantle defence, but found the hard working Subiaco defence too hard to penetrate.  Tony Carvajal was impressed with his team’s performance against an in form Subiaco especially after not playing for a month, due to cup rounds and state team commitments.

Full results for the round: Cockburn FF to UWA, Mandurah 4 Beckenham 2, Northern Redbacks 1 Queens Park 2, Balcatta 2 Nedlands Force 1, Subiaco 0 East Fremantle 0.

Round 12 Pick of the Round:
First placed Queens Park take on sixth placed East Fremantle at Coker Park at 3pm.  Only 9 points separate the two sides.  With a handful of young state team players in his side, Tony Carvajal is coaching his squad into a neat composed passing side that is very entertaining to watch.  Steve Woodfin’s tough Queens Park side will have their work cut out.  The last encounter was a difference of only two goals.