Report by Tommy Doleman

Mikayla Lyons is excited by the talent coming through at Fremantle

Fremantle City will aim to return to winning ways against Curtin University on Friday night as Round 11 of the NPLWA – Women’s competition begins.

City started 2021 in red-hot form, taking maximum points from their first three games. But just one win since has seen them slip to fifth and they sit eight points off top spot following a narrow loss to Murdoch University Melville last week.

Despite their run, City are currently out of the top four finals spots on goal difference only. And skipper Mikayla Lyons remains pleased with how they are tracking.

“We were pretty happy with our performance last week, but the result didn’t go our way. The attitude of the girls has been good and we’re not too disappointed, although we obviously would rather win the game,” Lyons said.

“Our focus this season has been trying to achieve that consistency of performance and I think we’ve done that aside from a couple of games.

“But now it comes down to crunch time in terms of getting these wins. We’ve definitely stepped it up since the Perth and Redbacks defeats and hopefully that will show in the results soon.”

Lyons was a key figure in Fremantle’s Top Four Cup final run last season, finishing as the team’s top scorer with nine goals and second only to Katarina Jukic in the Golden Boot race.

The forward has only scored twice in 2021, but the team has already scored more goals at this stage of the season than they did last term. Lyons believes that evolution in system at the club will hold them in good stead with an exciting crop of young players coming through to complement it.

“We’ve changed the formation with some of the senior girls playmaking through the midfield more, whilst also shuffling things around in defence and giving younger players an opportunity,” she said.

“But the good thing is we have seven or eight players on the field who are capable of scoring goals. It takes a bit of pressure off the strikers when the midfield is involved in the attacking play, which is something we maybe lacked in previous seasons.

“It probably hasn’t reflected in all our games yet, or our goal difference, but we are working on it and are happy with how it’s tracking at the moment.

“For me, that’s what it’s about at Fremantle City. We are developing our 18s and 23s towards the NPL and trying to give them a taste of that intensity as they step up. The fact they’ve slotted in so well and have adapted perhaps better than we expected is awesome for us, and moving forward it’s exciting to see the younger players coming through and looking so comfortable.”

And with their nearest rivals in the league facing each other this weekend, Friday’s game could take on more importance for Fremantle should they come away with the three points.

“The league has such a high level of competition and intensity every week and there hasn’t been a lot of blowout games, so you have to be on it and perform every week,” Lyons added.

“We were beaten by Curtin 1-0 towards the end of last season, so know they are capable on their day, and we have to take every game seriously and put in the best performance we can.

“If we play our game, I really believe we can beat anyone in the league when we’re on, so hopefully tomorrow night we can get the result. But we certainly won’t take them lightly.”

Curtin have yet to win this season, garnering just two points from their first nine matches. This week the club announed that former Fremantle technical director Dom Gangemi as their new head coach. He replaces Morrison Dean.

Elsewhere on Friday, second meets third as Murdoch University Melville host in-form Balcatta at Wormall Civil Stadium.

The defending champions sit three points off pace-setters Northern Redbacks and are unbeaten in their last three games. But Tim Cash’s side are on a three-game winning streak of their own and will look to avenge a 6-0 defeat to the same opposition in Round Four.

On Sunday, Hyundai NTC and Perth SC face off in a battle between two top four hopefuls at Ashfield Arena. These two sides have been within two points of each other at the end of every round this season and the weekend’s game may be another close one with the past two fixtures ending in a draw.

Finally, Northern Redbacks meet Subiaco in what many expect will be a routine home win for top versus bottom. But Iain Jolly’s side provided a tough test to the league leaders in Round Four’s 1-0 defeat at Rosalie Park and another strong showing will be required if they are to cause an upset.

Fixtures

Friday (7.30pm)

Fremantle City v Curtin University
Murdoch University Melville v Balcatta

Sunday (3pm)

Hyundai NTC v Perth SC
Northern Redbacks v Subiaco