On Sunday, we travel to Athletico FC Women to play the return league fixture against the current runaway Division Two league leaders.
You can read our match preview and match report from our first fixture against them earlier this season by clicking on the links.
The analysis in the first match preview still stands - Athletico were the early pacesetters in the league, their attack got up and running straight away, and it was clear that last season’s form was continuing into this one.
We also concluded that they would be one of the three or four teams vying for the top two automatic promotion spots at the end of the season, and given that they are halfway through their fixtures, nothing has changed, in fact, Athletico have reinforced our opinion of just how good a team they are.
Our home fixture ended 4-2, in what was a really challenging game that was decided essentially on slightly more clinical finishing by Town. It is expected that the game on Sunday will be no different - in that the team that is more clinical in front of goal will probably earn all three points.
A quick recap of where they are this season: Athletico have played 10 games and they have won nine and lost only one. They currently have a goal difference of +40 [best in the league] and sit at the top of the table on 27 points, a massive 12 points clear of second place Knaresborough Town.
Athletico have played everyone in the league bar Burley Trojans and Bradford City…recording victories over all the teams [all except Knaresborough].
In the cups, they provided Harrogate Railway Ladies First team with a home walkover (last week) in the County Cup; and the only other cup appearance this season was in the League Cup away against Rangers Athletic, which they lost 4-2, but then quickly avenged that loss in the league, beating Rangers 5-1.
Analysis
Athletico will be one of [we believe] three or four teams vying for one of the two automatic promotion spots at the top of the Second Division come the end of the season.
They are an outstanding footballing team that has a mix of pace, skill, and aggression. They pose a number of different questions to the opposition and once in front of goal, they know how to score.
It’s easy to get carried away and read into this particular game, a whole load of potential outcomes for the league in April or May next year; it is important to understand that this is a long season and absolutely nothing is decided in November.
There will be a number of twists and turns in the race for the top two.
With Athletico having played half of their league games already, they will not face a congested fixture list towards the end of the season. This, along with already having points on the board, means they will be considered [by many observers] favourites to end the season as league champions.
The game is to be played on a 3G pitch, which means that the surface isn’t suffering from the continued poor weather that we have experienced in October and November, but will pose a different set of issues to the players.
We predict that both teams will score, and it will be the team that settles the quicker of the two and takes the opportunities that they create that will walk away with three points on Sunday. We would be surprised if there were more than one (or a maximum of two) goals separating the teams at the final whistle.
With Athletico still having to play Burley Trojans and Bradford City, the league is finely balanced.
Irrespective of the result on Sunday Athletico will remain top of Division Two, as they have a formidable 12-point lead, and indeed with what is effectively a league break in December, even if one of the chasing pack continues to win all their games, it will probably be until the end of February before anyone could overhaul Athletico and claim that top spot.
It Is not to be underestimated the level of performance that Knaresborough Town, or indeed any team, need to put in to beat this excellent and formidable squad of players.
Please note that kick-off has been put back to 3 pm on Sunday and is not at the usual 2pm as with most league games.
We’d love to see you there supporting both teams.