The
WPL is back in action this weekend, and with just six rounds
remaining there’s plenty at stake. With a number of clubs still
missing players due to the National Championships in Sydney, Round
16 could prove a very interesting one in terms of results.Brimbank will look to continue its recent surge up the ladder, and continue its four-game winning streak at the Italo-Australian Social Club on Saturday, but it will have to pull out all the stops to achieve it. Its opponent this weekend is league leader Cranbourne Comets, which has only lost once this season, and was a convincing 5-0 victor when the sides met in Round 5. Cranbourne currently holds a slender two-point advantage over second-placed Box Hill, and will be aiming to maintain or extend that by achieving its fifteenth win of the season.
A real six-pointer takes place at Gardiners Creek Reserve on Sunday, as Eastern Lions take on the University of Melbourne in a match that could go a long way to determining who will be relegated at the end of the season. Five points separate the tenth-placed Lions from the University, but the Lions have been in shocking form of late, picking up just two points in their last ten games, and they last registered a victory when these sides last met. By contrast, the University has shown signs of turning its season around in recent weeks, with a victory over Bendigo and several narrow defeats. Victory for the Lions could guarantee their WPL status, while a win for the University would leave it just two points away from safety with six games to go.
Heidelberg United is currently six points outside the finals and will be looking to close that gap when it travels to meet bottom side Ballarat and District at Trekardo Park on Sunday. It registered a comfortable 4-0 victory when the sides met at Olympic Park earlier in the year, and will be aiming to repeat that result against the competition’s only side still without a win this season. Time is running out for Ballarat, which is ten points adrift of safety with just eighteen points still available, and it needs to start winning now if it is to have any hope of featuring in the top flight next year.
Eltham North is all but mathematically safe from the threat of relegation and results this weekend could cement its WPL status. It hosts South Melbourne this Sunday at Partington Flats, but will face a tough contest against a side that defeated it 5-2 earlier in the season. Eltham goes into the game following a heavy defeat at Cranbourne, while South shared the points with Bendigo in its last outing. South is looking for its first win in three games to rejuvenate its push for the finals, as it is currently seven points adrift of the top five.
In a rare Sunday home match, Box Hill Inter hosts Bendigo Vipers at Wembley Park, looking to keep up the pressure on Cranbourne at the top of the WPL ladder. Box Hill inflicted Bendigo’s biggest home defeat of the season when the sides met previously, running out 5-0 winners. Bendigo has suffered a dip in form recently, which has seen it slide down the table to seventh, after going five games without a win. Box Hill is on an eight match winning streak, which includes a victory over current leaders Cranbourne, and seems likely to prove too strong for the regional side.
The Ashburton / Keilor Park match has been postponed, and will now take place next Saturday. It will be previewed next week.