Report by Tommy Doleman

Gemma Craine could make her first appearance for Perth SC against her former club Fremantle City on Friday. Photo by Football West/FotoEnzo

Round Five of the NPLWA - Women’s competition kicks off on Friday night with two matches.

League leaders Fremantle City host Perth SC at Wauhop Park, while Murdoch University Melville are at home to Subiaco.

Perth SC won both league meetings between the sides in 2020, but Jamie-Lee Gale’s hat-trick in the Top Four Cup semi-final helpe City to a 6-1 win over the Azzurri at Dorrien Gardens and thus ended their season.

Perth head coach Danielle Brogan is expecting another challenging fixture under the lights and admits there may be a score to settle for some of the players who featured in that defeat last season.

“I try not to dwell too much on previous seasons, particularly with the new personnel, but for those who were involved last year we’d be lying if we said we still didn’t feel some hurt from that game,” she said.

“I think at the end the score blew out because we pressed until the end to try and get a result, which left us vulnerable at the back.

“There will be players from last season who I’m sure will have that at the back of their minds, but at the end of the day we have a job to do regardless of who it’s against. We can’t change what happened last season, but I don’t doubt there'll be a few people looking closely at this game because of the way it finished last season.

“Fremantle are obviously top of the table without dropping a point. They’re tight-knit, have a good environment and never give up over 90 minutes, so we need to be disciplined and also take our chances."

Gemma Craine scored twice in that fixture for Fremantle, but will be in opposition colours this year having joined Perth in the off-season following a spell in the W-League with Perth Glory.

The 2019 joint-Gold Medal winner has been working her way back to fitness following a hamstring injury picked up whilst playing with Glory and Brogan said the playmaker could see her first NPL minutes of the season against her former club.

“Everybody is impressed with where she (Craine) is at and we’re hoping she will get some game time,” Brogan said.

“Seeing Gemma first hand, week in, week out, she’s an unbelievable athlete with a willingness to learn and has hit the ground running with her recovery from this injury to make sure she’s fit enough.

“If we can get her on the field for her debut, it’d be a little ironic given it’s against her former team.”

Perth are still waiting to record their first win in 2021 having conceded late goals in the last two rounds to drop points against the Redbacks and Hyundai NTC. Despite the disappointment of those concessions, Brogan is confident the results will come once improvement comes in the decisive moments of games.

“It’s been the story of our last 18 months really in terms of scoring from open play. The last three games have been costly because we haven’t been clinical in the final third,” the former Matildas defender said.

“We can’t fault the play in terms of getting in good positions, so we’ve pulled up some key moments and the girls have had a look at those. Perhaps it’s just an adjustment that needs to be made in terms of decision making and composure.

“I think a lot of it is also football smarts. We were 1-0 up at the weekend and yes it should have been more, but we were still pressing. Even though we don’t want to park the bus and scratch for a 1-0 win, we have to be better in those moments.

“I can feel it’s coming and I’m hoping there’s one day where the floodgates open, but it’s about reiterating some of that composure.”

Elsewhere on Friday night, Murdoch University Melville return to the synthetic for the first time since Round One when they host Subiaco.

Subiaco battled hard against the Redbacks in a 1-0 defeat on Sunday, but they face a difficult task against the defending champions who played themselves back into form with a 6-0 win at Balcatta.

On Sunday, Night Series winners Balcatta will look to return to winning ways when they play an NTC side looking for their first victory of the campaign.

Curtin University are also yet to win and they complete round five against the Redbacks, who play at home for the first time this season hoping to remain unbeaten under Carlos Vega Mena.

Fixtures

Friday (7.30pm)
Fremantle City v Perth SC
Murdoch University Melville v Subiaco

Sunday (3pm)
Hyundai NTC v Balcatta
Northern Redbacks v Curtin University