A super Sunday of football at ServiceFM Stadium will see one team advance to the WNPL Grand Final, one team knocked out of the Finals Series, and one team clinching a place in next year's WNPL.
At 12.30pm, Salisbury Inter will be striving to keep their title defence alive against an Adelaide Comets side which recorded its first ever WNPL Finals Series win a week ago.
Inter are now without six players from their starting team in last year’s Grand Final and coach Simon Catanzaro has prioritised making his more inexperienced side difficult to breakdown through strong defence led by Nicole Calder and Mina Nishitani, and a hard-working midfield, while the tireless running of Erin Hood at centre forward is providing counterattacking opportunities. The Salisbury side battled to take Adelaide City to extra time last weekend but another loss will end its season.
Comets are riding high after making history last weekend through their come-from-behind win over NTC. Chrissy Panagaris’ outstanding season continued with two brilliantly-taken goals and an assist ensuring that the club’s first WNPL Finals Series match would be a successful one. The star-studded midfield of Nano Sasaki, Yuka Sasaki and Georgie Nicola will be equally as important to Comets’ chances.
The season ends for the Inter-Comets loser; expect a tight game.
At 3.00pm, West Adelaide and Adelaide City will meet for the fourth time this season with the victor advancing directly to the September 23 Grand Final.
West, who are hoping to win their first ever WNPL Championship this year, have recorded 21 wins and a draw from their last 22 matches in all competitions. But City is the only side to have beaten West this season and, when the teams recently met in the Final of the WNPL and WSL Cup, a penalty save from West keeper Annie Grove was needed to prevent City equalising in the second half. Racheal Quigley netted 26 times for West during the regular season but the team’s attacking threats come from all over the pitch with 81 goals in 18 WNPL matches provided be 11 different goalscorers. They will be warm favourites for this clash.
Adelaide City’s experienced players combined to break the deadlock in extra time of their hard-fought Qualifying Final against Salisbury Inter last weekend. While many of the players from the trophy-winning teams of 2017-2020 are no longer with the club, Izzy Hodgson and Dylan Holmes continue to be match winners. And with new recruits Katie Bowler and Mawa Sumaoro proving that they can score against the best – including West – you can’t count City out.
In a game with an entirely different prize, South Adelaide will face Fulham United in the Women’s NPL and State League Play-Off. The winner will play in next year’s WNPL while the loser will play in the Women’s State League. South, which finished a comfortable second in the WSL, will start the match as underdogs. They will be hoping that Nikki Henkens’ goal scoring form (17 in 12 games) continues while other players with WNPL experience – including a few who will be facing their former club – lead them to an upset win.
After escaping automatic relegation by just one point, Fulham United finds itself in this play-off for the second successive year. The club’s recent form won’t inspire confidence either – four straight losses with no goals scored and a total of 15 conceded.
But the gap between the two divisions can be telling in these playoffs. That might mean more opportunities for experienced Fulham forwards Natasha Vella and Angela Mills.