After a thrilling Women’s Premier League home & away season, our attention turns to the semi-finals on Sunday afternoon! Cromer Park will be the venue for these do-or-die games and the intensity is sure to ramp up with Grand Final places at stake.
League Champions Seaforth are set to face fourth placed Wakehurst on the main field at Cromer Park. They held their nerve over the closing weeks of the campaign to edge out Beacon Hill for the title by one point, with a run of six wins and a draw in the last seven games proving key to their title defence.
Wakehurst are coming into Sunday’s knockout clash on the back of a 2-2 draw with Curl Curl. The Tigers pushed Seaforth all the way to a penalty shootout in the Women’s Challenge Cup Final, so we can expect another close game when these two meet in the semi-finals.
This year’s two WPL games between Seaforth and Wakehurst both ended up as single goal victories to Seaforth (3-2 in Round 5 and 1-0 in Round 12).
League runners-up Beacon Hill will play third-placed Manly Vale on Cromer Park Field 2. Beacon Hill were the league’s highest scorers with 45 goals scored in 14 games, and they come into this game on the back of four consecutive wins. With only three losses in all competitions this year, Beacon Hill have been very tough to beat.
Manly Vale also head into this clash with a four game winning streak and Vale had the WPL’s second highest scoring attack (41 goals), so there is every chance of seeing a shootout on Sunday. Their form has been excellent after a tricky start to the campaign – only one loss in their last 11 league fixtures.
Beacon Hill completed a league double over Manly Vale with a 1-0 win in Round 2 and a 2-1 triumph in Round 9.
We’ll also have the Reserve Grade semi finals on Sunday, with Manly Vale playing Wakehurst on the Cromer Park main field and Seaforth facing Beacon Hill on Field 2.
MWFA Women’s Premier League Semi Finals
Sunday 20 August
1st Grade @ 2:30pm
Seaforth v Wakehurst, Cromer Park Field 1
Beacon Hill v Manly Vale, Cromer Park Field 2
Reserve Grade @ 12:15pm
Manly Vale v Wakehurst, Cromer Park Field 1
Seaforth v Beacon Hill, Cromer Park Field 2
Feature image courtesy Graeme Bolton.
