Words: Matt Dorman & Michael Flynn
Image: Albert Perez/Eastern Suburbs FC

The inaugural PlayStation® 4 NPL Queensland Senior Women’s season enters its final round this weekend with four teams still alive in the title race.

The Gap are favourites to claim the first silverware of a hotly-contested year, although Palm Beach SC, Eastern Suburbs and UQFC all remain in the reckoning.

Gators captain Bec Price believes her team is prepared to handle heightened tension of Saturday’s match away to SWQ Thunder.

“We’re traditionalists if you like and the premiership for us is the most important thing,” Price said.

“Winning it means you’re the most consistent performer throughout the season.

“We’ve got ourselves where we want to be and we’re ready to go.”

Most likely to pounce on any potential slip-up will be Palm Beach SC, who will hope to host a premiership party against Moreton Bay United on Sunday.

 

 

 

(Image: Chris Simpson/UQFC) 

Sharks skipper Tayler Stevens expects her side to ride a wave of belief into the Finals Series regardless of the weekend’s result.

“We’re so excited because we’ve done much better than last year,” Stevens said.

“It will be really tough (to go all the way), we’ve never been further than Semi-Finals, but we’re so ready to win the championship this year.”

Eastern Suburbs led the league prior to The Gap’s charge but a last-start draw at home to Sunshine Coast saw the Brisbane club slip to third.

While believing the title will be decided in Toowoomba, Easts captain Laura Harris pointed to her team’s 3-1 away win over Gators in April as instilling belief in a championship tilt.

“We have full faith in everyone in our team,” Harris said.

“We’ve shown in a lot of the bigger games this year we can handle the pressure and still play our game. We’re pretty confident that we can win it if we play the way we have been playing.”

(Image: Albert Perez/Eastern Suburbs FC)  

Fourth-placed UQFC require the most fortune to celebrate come Sunday but can point to 13 victories as evidence of their credentials.

Midfielder Katie Winter says the team’s close bond equips them well for the challenges ahead.

“I know other teams have their superstars but in terms of UQFC I don’t think we play for ourselves, we play for each other,” Winter said.

“It’s a new team at UQFC, personally it’s my first year here and I felt comfortable within the first few weeks. With other teams I know it takes a while to gel and a couple of years to really play together.”

As four teams remain in the premiership reckoning and another three loom as potential Finals Series dangers, Stevens summed up the competition as one promising plenty more for the future.

“I say it to my coach Gary French all the time – the standard of the league has gone up so much,” the defender said.

“I see a massive difference. I’m really excited to see where this goes in the next couple of years.”