The curtain came down on the regular season with drama till the very last moment in the #NPLWNSW competition.
Sydney University, APIA Leichhardt, Macarthur Rams and the Northern Tigers will battle on for the Championship, while a brave Sydney Olympic missed out with two defeats in their last two games.
APIA Leichhardt 2-0 Macarthur Rams
APIA knew at kick off that a victory against the Macarthur Rams would push them into second place on the ladder and they did just that with a strong second half, winning 2-0.
An under-strength Rams team came into this game with no Alex Huynh, Kylie Ledbrook, Mel Caceres, Beth Gordon and Lauren Keir but gave a fantastic account of themselves.
The opening 15 minutes were dominated by the visitors and Leena Khamis should have had them in front, only for her shot to be well saved by Sarah Langman.
In a match short of chances, it took until almost the end of the first half for APIA to have their first proper opportunity, falling the way of Kaitlyn Torpey whose shot forced Sham Khamis into a fine save of her own.
Coming out into the second period, there was a visible change in Spencer Prior’s team as they started the better.
Flannery had the first chance in the second half, forcing Khamis into a save, before Hoban also went close.
With 30 minutes remaining and APIA getting desperate, they were awarded a penalty after Estelle Fragale was brought down in the box by Danielle Bishop.
Sarah hunter stepped up to the spot and slotted her effort home despite Khamis picking the right way.
APIA looked in control now and secured the points with 15 minutes left on the clock. A ball over the defence from Hunter saw Sophie Hoban use her strength to get into the box before placing the ball beyond Khamis.
Leena Khamis then had two goals chalked off for offside before full time with the visitors unable to score a consolation.
Football NSW Institute 2-0 Bankstown City
One of those games with nothing on the line but pride saw the Football NSW Institute finish their season with victory over Bankstown City.
Bankstown’s finals hopes were almost impossible and needed some ridiculous score lines to occur for them to qualify.
The Institute were in front mid-way through the second half after a powerful run from Daniella Galic saw the Young Matilda shoot from an almost impossible angle, beating Edwards at her near post.
It took all the way until the final minute for the Institute to secure the win after Ella Abdul-Massih’s shot was not held by Brianna Edwards, allowing Jynaya Dos Santos to tap home from centimetres out.
NWS Spirit 1-0 Emerging Jets
NWS Spirit made sure they finished their season the best way possible, edging passed the Emerging Jets by the odd goal at Christie Park.
Tiana Gauci’s team have been more than competitive since she took the helm at Christie Park and with the victory secured ninth place on the ladder.
They’d take the points in fortuitous circumstances though as Yasmin Popovic scored an own goal to give Spirit the points.
The win means that Spirit finish the season with three straight victories.
Manly United 0-2 Illawarra Stingrays
The Illawarra Stingrays rounded off the season with a fine victory on the Northern Beaches, defeating Manly United 2-0 at Cromer Park.
The Stingrays took their mid-week victory over Sydney Olympic into this one and hit the lead early on.
There were 20 minutes on the clock when the Stingrays hit the front through Kaelah Austin, reacting quickest in the box after a corner.
Mid-way through the second period, the visitors doubled their advantage. Michelle Carney showed that age is just a number, scoring her 10th of the season after making a darting run, rounding the keeper and slotting the ball home.
The South-Coast side will rue some disappointing defeats in the finish of the season that would have propelled them up the ladder.
Northern Tigers 2-4 Sydney University
The Premiers Sydney University made sure they will go into the finals in style and full of confidence, defeating the Northern Tigers 4-2 at a wet North Turramurra.
After only 17 minutes, Rola Badawiya had a chance from the spot to put the visitors in front but was denied with a wonderful save from Morgan Aquino.
Uni went in front five minutes before the break as Holly Caspers capitalised on a good ball through by Gabrielle Peak to find the back of the net after some sustained pressure.
If they hit the front five minutes before the break, they doubled the advantage five minutes after half time.
Uni top scorer Rola Badawiya finding her 13th of the season with a well struck free kick that went in off the under side of the cross bar, atoning for her earlier penalty miss.
Cushla Rue then came off the bench and had a goal within moments of coming on, taking a penalty and beating Aquino.
Three quickly became four as Caspers picked up her brace with a neat finish after being teed up by Brianna Oliverio.
Emily Husband’s team went to sleep for the final minutes though and allowed the Tigers to score a couple late goals.
Ash Brodigan scored the first in some style with a very special free kick, finding the top corner with a powerful effort from some way out, also picking up her 13th of the season.
They got another late in stoppage time as Abbey Green headed home from a corner to make the score line respectable.
Sydney Olympic 1-3 Blacktown Spartans
Olympic started this week knowing that two wins would have them finishing second, one win very close to finals, and zero wins out of the playoffs.
They didn’t manage to pick up a win in their finals two matches, losing on Wednesday 3-1 to the Stingrays and by the same score line Sunday evening to the Blacktown Spartans.
It was a real contrast looking at the line ups, one team (Spartans) with all their super stars back, the other (Olympic) without a large number of players they started the season with.
After a tight first half though, the teams went into the break locked at 0-0.
It took only minutes for the visitors to hit the front though after the break, a neat cut back found Rosie Galea at the penalty spot as she blasted the ball home.
Things went from bad to worse for Olympic as Galea became provider, crossing a delightful ball in for Abbey Lemon who headed home.
Lemon then had her second and the Spartans third 15 minutes from full time as her cross turn shot came off the post and into the Olympic goal.
Anna Norton then gifted Olympic a consolation in the 93rd minute as Kiara De Domizio took advantage and tapped the ball home.
-By NPL NSW Women’s Chief Writer and Commentator Nikola Pozder