Mt Franklin Premier League RD6 Preview
There must be something in Mt. Franklin’s water because the Ladies of the Premier League are scoring goals left, right and centre. Round 5 saw 28 goals scored across 5 fixtures at an average of almost 6 goals a game; backing up from Round 4 when 29 goals were scored across the weekend. I don’t think there’d be many leagues across the nation that can boast such entertaining score lines. Amongst all the action we saw the lowest scoring affair of the week when Annerley and Capalaba drew 1-1, after Terrell Collins nailed a 90-minute penalty to rescue her team a point. Pine Hills won on the road 3-0 against Souths, the first of the 6-3 results of the round had Peninsula Power take home the 3 points against The Gap. Virginia got their first win of the year against an inconsistent Logan 3-1 and Mitchelton kept on rolling despite conceding 3 goals in the second 6-3 score-line, beating Easts. You surely wouldn’t want to miss Round 6, can there be 30 goals scored? It should go something like this… The Gap v Souths United Friday 28th April 8:30pm at Walton Bridge Reserve The Gap have made a pretty torrid start after their first round result, which was exactly how they would’ve wanted to start the year, but since then they’ve really struggled to perform. They’ve also conceded 13 goals in their 3 games since that Round 1 win, their defence really needs to improve if they want to be playing finals football. They’re at home for the second week on the trot and need to get a result against Souths who are still trying to win their first game. I always seem to be saying the same things about Souths, “They’ve had a short pre-season”, “They lost some of their better players in the off-season, who thought they were getting relegated”. But these vindications won’t wash forever. Credit to them though, they always seem to be trying their absolute hardest to overcome these challenges and a lot of their problems so far have been self-inflicted. They need to start getting results and scoring goals or they could actually be sent down this time. Prediction: The Gap 3-2
Capalaba v Eastern Suburbs Saturday 29th April 3:30pm at John Fredericks Park Capalaba came away with a point from their Round 5 encounter in their match against Annerley. They left it late and probably would’ve preferred to of done it without the controversy, but Collins proved she has one of the coolest heads in the league. They’re still undefeated and playing back at home against a winless Easts. We probably all expected Mitchie’s 6 goals in Easts last match against the aforementioned, but the Tigers managed to get 3 of their own. Although they obviously did lose the match, scoring 3 goals against one of, if not-the best defence in the league is an achievement in itself. They looked to really test Mitchelton’s back line and put more past them than anyone else has managed to since Annerley scored 5 in Round 21 of last season. It’s encouraging for their attackers at least and especially for Jody Sullivan who now has 4 goals in 3 matches for her side. Can she fire them to safety? Can they really upset one of the big dogs this week? Prediction: Capalaba 4-1
Peninsula Power v Virginia United Saturday 29th April 5:00pm at AJ Kelly Park 11 goals in two games for Power and 4 points, not a bad return. But they have conceded 8 in the last two and do seem to be culpable for conceding sloppy goals. They’ll need to eradicate the lapses and increase their impressive goal scoring form back at A J Kelly park against Virginia. Virginia got their first win of the season against Logan last week in the surprise of the round. They’ll be looking for more of the same in the coming weeks, but will have their work cut out for them away from home. If they can re-create their football of last week they’ll be right in this. Prediction: Power 4-2
Logan Lightning v Annerley Saturday 29th April 6:00pm at Cornubia Park The Lightning have been stuttering in recent weeks, after two wins on the bounce they lost to a Virginia team they would’ve very well fancied to beat comfortably. Perhaps complacency slipped in, but they can ill afford to do the same this week. They won in their last match at Cornubia Park and will be looking to hold out an attacking Annerley side. Annerley will feel as if they’d dropped two points last week, after they conceded a very late penalty to gift Capalaba a draw on their own turf. They haven’t won in two and are sitting in fourth, but it’s very early days and it’s certainly no time for panic. They’ll do anything to get back in the winner’s circle this week. Donna Smith is in good goal scoring form and will be amongst the scorers again on Saturday evening. Prediction: Annerley 3-0
Mitchelton v Pine Hills Saturday 29th April 6:15pm at Teralba Park Mitchelton's record remains faultless, but they did stutter somewhat in conceding three goals to Easts in their last game. Despite scoring six, Zoe Bickerstaffe will still be upset about her side picking the ball out of their own net on three occasions. She’ll know all about the dangerous Fern Doyle from Pine Hills though and no doubt she’ll make them pay if they afford her the same space they did with Jody Sullivan. But they’re the league leaders for a reason and they haven’t lost at home in 16 encounters. Pine Hills are back to the side we expected them to be. After a stutter in Round 1, The Pythons seem to have their sting back and are fresh off two consecutive wins. They arguably should have collected 7 points from their last 3, but that result against Annerley stands as their second loss of the year. They’ll be desperate to snatch the points against Mitchelton and definitely have the bite up front to make The Mustangs rue any mistakes they may make at the back. Prediction: Mitchelton 3-2
