NNSW WPL: Merewether eye Herald Women's Premier League lead against Newcastle Olympic

The 2-1 win was five months ago. While the loss has been Olympic's only one in seven outings, United remain the only unbeaten team in the competition and Ellis feels they are improving with each match.

The competition lead is on the line Friday night when they meet again, this time at Arthur Edden Oval. Olympic and Broadmeadow sit atop the standings with 16 points. Merewether are third with 14 but have played one less game than the two sides above them.

"It's probably a little early, but this game could be the decider of the minor premiership," Ellis said.

"To be perfectly honest, we probably stole the other game. They were the better team. But a lot of things have changed since then. They've had players move on and new ones arrive and we've certainly added some real quality to the squad.

"We're really looking forward to it. I expect it to be a cracker of a game."

Both sides are lethal in attack and boast plenty of experience.

"We've got a very good defence, they've got a very good attack," Ellis said. "I think we can probably beat them in the midfield. When we played them last time their defence was a bit vulnerable. We got them on the counter twice. I think that's probably still a problem for them. I don't think there are many teams that are capable of exploiting that weakness, so it will be a good battle but I'm quietly confident."

Olympic coach Harmonie Attwill was equally looking forward to the challenge and felt mental resolve was key.

"They've been a very well established club over the years, but we definitely know that we can compete," Attwill said. "We know that we can win. It's just one of those things where we need to make sure that we start on the front foot, stick to the game plan and hopefully we can open up their defence.

"It will be very much a mental game and I think discipline will play a very big part for both teams. We need to continually be mentally tough because they're a quality side."

The match kicks off at 8pm and opens round nine.

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On Sunday, Thornton host Magic and Adamstown play New Lambton. The rescheduled midweek clash between Broadmeadow and the Redbacks set down for Wednesday was postponed.

The match between Warners Bay and Mid Coast at John Street Oval on Sunday is back on. Northern NSW Football announced on Tuesday that Mid Coast would be unable to play in the WPL for six weeks on the latest advice of the NSW chief medical officer, who wanted travel by sporting teams restricted to their own region. But on amended advice NNSWF has since determined that it is reasonable to allow Mid Coast to continue competing.

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