Merewether coach Scott Ellis puts focus on finals

Unbeaten Herald Women's Premier League leaders United hold a one-point buffer over Broadmeadow and Newcastle Olympic, who both have 25 points, with three rounds remaining.

They can extend that lead by taking maximum points from a weekend double-header against Mid Coast, who are fifth with 15 points. They play in Taree on Saturday then at Myamblah Oval on Sunday.

"It's absolutely in our hands and the minor premiership would be nice, but it's moreso about getting everything to where we need it to be," Ellis said.

"I don't think we can miss finals now, so it's preparing for that."

While goalkeeper Alison Logue produced a player-of-the-match performance in an important 2-0 win over Magic on Saturday that propelled Merewether to top of the table, Ellis also praised the efforts of "unsung hero" Tamara Nash, who combined with Rhali Dobson to open the scoring and notch her sixth goal of the season.

"She does a huge amount of work in midfield and is developing a really good partnership with Rhali," Ellis said.

"There was a goal in the Thornton game [last Wednesday night] that was almost identical. Rhali drew everyone and Tamara made sure she was where she needed to be and Rhali provided her with a really quality ball.

"We pulled her into midfield earlier in the season because we were a little bit underdone there. Now she swings between playing up front and partnering Rhali when we play a 4-4-2 then when we swap back to a 4-3-3 she tends to play the 10 in behind Rhali.

"She can play holding midfield as well, so is quite a versatile player and a very important part of the team and senior playing group."

Thornton may have not won a game this season but coach Al Primmer said the emergence of young talent continued to be a positive for the club whose WPL licence will be taken over by Maitland next year.

Primmer gave 17s striker Emily Moore her starting debut against Merewether last Wednesday night and Keira Hall, who also plays an attacking role for the 17s, made her first appearance in the top grade off the bench.

Tru Parker, who has just turned 15 and is New Lambton's 17s goalkeeper, was named Eagles player of the match after replacing an injured Ruby Jones in a 5-0 loss to Olympic last Wednesday night.

Warners Bay coach Craig Atkins gave 15-year-old shot-stopper Georgia Cooksey her first-grade debut at John Street Oval on Sunday with the last 10 minutes in goals of their 9-0 win over Thornton.

Thornton goalkeeper Danielle Redding and New Lambton centre-back Kaitlin Radstaak both made their 100th Herald WPL appearances in round 11.

Newcastle Olympic secured the Friendship Cup on Sunday after points were collated from all four grades in a home-and-away exchange with Rosebud.

The tradition began between Wallsend and Adamstown in 2016 to recognise the rich footballing histories of both clubs. It has been carried on by Olympic, who took over the Red Devils' WPL licence.

The Emerging Jets came from behind to beat Bankstown City 2-1 on Sunday and produce their first win of the National Premier League NSW Women's season. They trailed 1-0 at the break but Hannah Jones and Josie Morley both scored in the second half to seal the win.

Coach Ash Wilson said it was not the Emerging Jets' most polished performance but she was happy with how they responded in the second half.

It was the first game of a hectic fortnight for the Emerging Jets, who are scheduled to play five games in a fortnight.

They play Northern Tigers in Sydney on Thursday night then return to host Macarthur at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Sunday.

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