Womens Premiership

PREVIEW: 2019 WOMEN'S PREMIERSHIP GAMEWEEK 14

30 Jul 2019
football
AMMG Sports/Chris Scott

The Danske Bank Women's Premiership continues tonight as we preview the matches in gameweek 14 of the 2019 campaign. Third-placed Sion Swifts sit out this round of action while top two Linfield and Glentoran both have home fixtures.

Crusaders Strikers v Comber Rec. Ladies (venue: Seaview; kick-off 8pm)

Crusaders will look to end a run of four straight league defeats as they welcome basement side Comber Rec to Seaview. The visitors remain stuck on just one point so far this season and slumped to a 13-1 home defeat against champions Linfield last time out.

The Crues were edged out 2-1 by Glentoran in the weekend's County Antrim Cup final, while they have also lost narrowly to the Glens and Linfield in the league, but last time out disappointingly went down 5-1 at Cliftonville.

Caitlyn Hamilton, Danielle McDowell and Courtney Moore were all on target for Spike Hill's side in the meeting between the two back in May, with Amanda Morton also netting a double as the Crues ran out convincing 5-0 victors.

Glentoran Women v Cliftonville Ladies (venue: Ulidia Playing Fields; kick-off 8pm)

Glentoran added the County Antrim Cup to their League Cup title this season over the weekend, but have lost top spot in the league in recent weeks. This is despite not dropping any points, but their 10-goal advantage over Linfield has disappeared and they are now eight goals and three points behind the Blues, having played a game less.

Cliftonville are the visitors tonight and despite a recent 8-0 home defeat against the Blues, their 5-1 North Belfast triumph last week has given them hope they can push for a top three spot this campaign. Marissa Callaghan remains as player-coach for the Reds after Marty Douglas stepped down from his role last week.

The Glens have won the last six meetings between the sides but Cliftonville did defeat them 1-0 on this gameweek last season. Earlier this season, the East Belfast side won 4-1 at Solitude - first half goals from Rachel Rogan and Nadene Caldwell were followed by a Kerry Beattie double, while Rachel McConnell was the Reds scorer.

Linfield v Derry City (venue: Midgley Park; kick-off 8pm)

Linfield have bounced back from their 1-0 home defeat against Glentoran at the start of the month by defeating Cliftonville and Comber Rec - netting 21 goals and conceding just once in the process. They may have lost midfielder Megan Bell to Durham in England but the Blues appear to be entering into a run of imperious form, and are back to the top of the league standings.

They will be firm favourites going into this clash against Derry, who have just four points to their name this season and are yet to pick up a point against any of the league’s top five. Abbie Magee, Rebecca Bassett and captain Kirsty McGuinness were all on target for the Blues in a 3-0 win at the Brandywell earlier in the season - and have all won seven games between the two, conceding none and scoring 45 times.