It was a cracking weekend of National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s action as Round 7 provided some thrills and spills in what was a highly entertaining round.
Let’s get to this week’s review.
Match of the Round – APIA Leichardt 3-1 Sydney Olympic at Lambert Park – Full Match Report
APIA Leichhardt continued their undefeated 2023 National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s run with a convincing 3-1 victory over Sydney Olympic at Lambert Park on Sunday.
Isabella Habuda opened the scoring for APIA in the first half in front of a packed house of over 3,500 people, before Isabella Coco-Di Sipio and Ash Crofts added goals in the second stanza.
Olympic substitute Kate Woosnam scored a consolation late on for the visitors to round off the scoring.
Football NSW Institute 1-1 Macarthur Rams at Valentine Sports Park
Valentine Sports Park played host to a competitive 1-1 draw between Football NSW Institute and Macarthur Rams over the weekend.
The opening few minutes saw both sides displaying grit and determination in an effort to gain a foothold on the game, with Macarthur breaking the deadlock in the 7th minute through a mixture of their own guile and some misfortune for FNSW Institute too.
Former Napoli Femminile defender Alexandra Huynh began the play leading to Macarthur’s opening goal, lofting a ball with pinpoint precision onto the left foot of India Breier, who took the aerial ball down with aplomb and set in motion the events leading to the opening goal. FNSW Institute were unable to deal with the vision of Leena Khamis, with her through ball deflecting into the path of Miku Sunaga who was then able to best the outstretched Tahlia Franco and give Macarthur the lead.
FNSW Institute displayed plenty of fortitude in matching it with last season’s competition winners and were rewarded for their hard work early in the second half when Macarthur defender Tenealle Hay’s heavy touch was snuffed out by FNSW substitute Leahz De Oliveira and placed spectacularly beyond Tegan Bertolissio into the net from range.
Chances would be limited from then on, ensuring that the match would conclude 1-1 at the end of the ninety minutes.
Emerging Jets 0-0 Manly United at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility
The Emerging Jets were determined to get three points on the board against a strong opponent in Manly United on Sunday, but were forced to settle for a 0-0 result.
In a game filled with half-chances and with both sides seeking to play to their speed on the counterattack, Alexis Collins looking dangerous on the left for the Jets, with Sian Wilde and Emma O’Hagan industrious in defence.
With the game often being dictated via the action in the middle of the park, a midfield battle saw the likes of Manly’s Mia Bales and the Jets’ Emma Dundas deliver all-action performances to keep their respective sides in the game.
A standout for the Jets this season, Brinley Gentle sought to carve out chances for her side up front and in between the lines, but found it difficult to conjure up a moment of magic to provide her side with the edge.
Individual performances, in tandem with the collective resilience of both teams, assured that 0-0 remained the score until the end, Manly going close late on with a header that was sent over the bar.
Having conceded a league-high 24 goals this season, a clean sheet for the Jets would no doubt have left the home fans and their coach Sam Griffin proud.
Sydney University 5-2 Illawarra Stingrays at Sydney Uni Football Ground
A rollercoaster ninety minutes ended with Sydney University securing just their second win of the season, a 5-2 goal fest over a struggling Illawarra Stingrays side.
The first goal of the afternoon arrived in the 32nd minute when Sydney Uni defender Margaux Chauvet won possession off of Jessica Cirignano, set off on a marauding run and read Talia Kapetanellis’ excellent run, the young striker finishing superbly following the through ball by Chauvet. 1-0 to Sydney Uni.
Illawarra were not without ambition after conceding, their response coming immediately after when Alex McKenzie picked up a loose Sydney Uni clearance, linked up with Michelle Carney and put goalkeeper Sophie Emery under pressure, the palmed cross falling to Cirignano who smashed the ball beyond the Sydney Uni shot stopper.
Unbelievably, goal number three arrived a mere minute later when Sydney Uni midfielder Frances Lechner received the ball and played Jaime Beaufils through on the left wing, the resulting cross going uncleared by Illawarra and walloped home by Kapetanellis for her second of the day. 2-1 to Sydney Uni.
Sydney Uni ended the first half in dreamland when Kapetanellis took down a long ball down the wing and spotted Illawarra keeper Chelsea Hromek off her line and chipped her to give the home side a sizeable lead. Kapetanellis with a well-earned 8-minute hattrick that may have been the spark Sydney Uni needed to properly kickstart their season.
Annabel Martin notched Sydney Uni’s fourth of the evening following Illawarra’s failure to deal with a corner into the box in the 48th minute.
Illawarra would add a consolation to their solitary goal in the first half when Bella Voisey-Youldon leapt onto the opportunity provided by an errant Sydney Uni pass in midfield to tee up Carney who audaciously chipped the Uni defence and gave Tara Cannon the chance to finish low past Emery.
Adding to the chaos of the day, Sydney Uni’s fifth and final goal of the day would come via a cross (or a shot depending on who you ask) from Holly Duncan far wide on the left wing that beat Hromek and nestled itself into the net. 5-2 to Sydney Uni.
Having endured an up-and-down start to the season so far, Sydney Uni will be happy that the match concluded 5-2 in their favour.
Gladesville Ravens 3-0 Blacktown Spartans at Christie Park
Gladesville Ravens continued their impressive start to the 2023 NPL NSW Women’s competition with a 3-0 win over the Blacktown Spartans.
It was Blacktown who began the game more spirited, with their first chance being fashioned in the 7th minute when Carleigh Frilles was handed an opportunity on the left wing, only to see her well-take finish saved by one of the Ravens’ heroes this season, Romina Parraguirre.
In spite of Blacktown’s positive start, it would be the Ravens who would strike first following a superb sequence of possession and ball movement when Keisha Allen pressured the Spartans defence and spotted the run of Jess Wootton who proceeded to lay the ball on a platter for Keiko Tanaka to finish. 1-0 to the Ravens.
Ten minutes on from their opener the Ravens would extend their lead to 2-0 when Alexandra Trims spotted the run of Tanaka at the far post and crossed from deep for the Ravens forward to finish excellently beyond Makayla Kent.
The home team would continue to dominate in the second half, leading to a third goal courtesy of a lethal counterattack and through ball from Natalie Sproule that Chloe O’Brien took on with confidence and sent between the keeper’s legs.
Blacktown Spartans found it tough against a side that has only conceded 5 goals so far this season, a stat which is on par with the competition’s top three on the ladder at the end of Round 7.
Northern Tigers 0-0 NWS Spirit at North Turramurra Recreation Area
Derby rivals Northern Tigers and NWS Spirit could not be separated in a tight 0-0 draw at North Turramurra on Sunday.
With the Tigers’ rescheduled midweek clash against Sydney Olympic forcibly postponed yet again due to the rain, the Tigers entered Sunday’s matchup against the Spirit fully focused after a week to prepare on the training ground.
Spirit were left to defend for extended periods in the match, a situation which added to the tension for and pressure on the Tigers. Although, Spirit appeared to be thriving in their structure and in their subsequent nullifying of the Tigers’ myriad attacking weapons.
Tigers captain Hannah McNulty arguably would see the chance of the game fall at her feet in the second half following sleek work from Lily McMahon to backheel the ball onto her path, only to see the resulting shot drag just wide of the far post.
Both the Tigers and NWS Spirit were defensively sound against one another; however, Spirit were undoubtedly forced to withstand the brunt of the attacks from a hungry Tigers side looking to build on their convincing away win over Manly United in Round 6.
The derby would conclude 0-0, with both sides unlucky not to score.
Bankstown City Lions 2-2 Bulls FC Academy at Jensen Park
The final match of the round saw the Bankstown City Lions play out an exciting match with Bulls FC Academy at Jensen Park, where the spoils were deservedly shared between the two competitive sides in a 2-2 draw.
After a back-and-forth first stanza where both sides looked to be capable of scoring a few goals, Bulls FC finished the first half the more delighted of the two sides when Jessica Seaman took advantage of Bankstown’s struggles to clear the ball and reacted to an underwhelming overhead kick to flick a goal beyond the home side’s goalkeeper Ashley Purcell.
The second half maintained the positive momentum for the Bulls when Anneke Corry’s devastating long shot from just outside the box hit the crossbar and landed perfectly for the onrushing Tamires Souza to finish, the young attacking midfielder adding to her fine form in front of goal in recent weeks.
In an exciting turn of events for Lions fans, the home side found some rhythm in the match and scored their first goal of the evening in the 75th minute when substitute Angelina Scamardella’s cross found its way to an unmarked Sabine Montenegro who calmly finished into the back of the net, the goal arriving at a significant moment with limited time left in the half.
The goal of the game arrived in the 80th minute when the Bulls were unable to clear the ball from a cross and Maryam Mostaghimi seized a split-second chance on the 18-yard box to volley sweetly for an important equaliser that assured a 2-2 draw between the sides.
Lions coach Matt Costantini would have been left with mixed feelings by the rollercoaster nature of the match, largely because his side have now had to come from behind in six of their seven matches this season. However, they continue to show a never-say-die attitude that bodes well for their future.
-By Matthew Badrov