A five-goal thriller went the way of the Northern Tigers at Christie Park on Sunday night as they over-came the Gladesville Ravens in the NPL Women’s NSW Round Eight Match of the Round, 3-2.
The home side took the lead inside the first 10 minutes thanks to Annie Halls, before Amy Hislop equalised for the Tigers before the break.
Two goals inside the first 10 minutes of the second half to Lily McMahon and Nicola Dominikovich saw the visitors completely turn around the scoreline.
Isabella Habuda then gave the Ravens a lifeline mid-way though the second half but the Tigers managed to hold on.
With the first chance of the game, the Ravens took the lead.
A deep searching ball into the Tigers half saw Aimee Hall and Isabella Keech get mixed up, allowing Annie Halls to take advantage and lob the ball over the away team’s goalkeeper.
The home team continued to put the pressure on and had half chances fell the way of Keiko Tanaka and Bella Habuda.
With ten minutes to go before the break, the Tigers had their equaliser.
It was perhaps their first shot in anger at the Ravens goal as Amy Hislop showed fine technique to roll away from her defender before rifling her shot beyond Romina Parraguirre.
The tightly played out fixture saw the teams go into half time locked at 1-1.
Just as the second half started, the away team hit the front.
Keech sent a long ball over the top of the Ravens defence, allowing the speedy Lily McMahon to steal through before finding the far corner with a well taken shot to put her team in front.
Shortly after, the Ravens had the opportunity to equalise following a corner, only for the Tigers to somehow desperately defend their lines and clear the ball out of danger.
McMahon was then denied as she looked to extend the Tigers lead, Parraguirre and some desperate defending keeping the score at 2-1.
It didn’t take them long to extend their lead as they made it 3-1 on 54 minutes following an excellent team move.
Olivia Cartwright received the ball inside the box before crossing across goal to find Dominikovich steaming through who made no mistake, burying her effort into the back of the net.
Habuda then had the Ravens back in the game with 25 minutes remaining, latching onto a cross goal pass by Patty Charalambous after a fine cross from Claudia Cholakian.
The home team kept pushing and had visibly stepped higher prior to the goal, forcing errors from the Tigers.
Minutes after the goal, Ravens should have made it 3-3 after Renee Poutney laid off a pass for Habuda, only for Hall to save.
Breanna Buccini was next to go close but didn’t really test Hall who saved well.
Habuda was in the thick of it again as the ball fell to her inside the six-yard box, only for the striker to blast her effort over the bar.
It was Habuda that would then become creator, only for Poutney to not be able to direct her effort goalwards.
The Ravens pushed for a late equaliser but Hall and the Tigers defence stood tall and secured all three points.
Match Stats
Gladesville Ravens 2 (Halls 9’, Habuda 64’)
Northern Tigers 3 (Hislop 36’, McMahon 47’, Dominikovich 55’)
Christie Park, Macquarie Park
Sunday, 21 April 2024
Gladesville Ravens: 22. Parraguirre, 3. Daczko, 4. Lidbetter (33. Charalambous), 5. Tanaka, 6. Davey, 8. Halls, 17. Cholakian (19. Sproule), 18. Brewis (7. Pountney), 23. Allen, 26. Buccini, 51. Habuda.
Subs Not Used: 1. Coleman, 25. Howard, 27. Villa.
Northern Tigers: 39. Hall, 3. Gattorna, 4. Keech, 5. Wharepouri, 8. Mcatamney, 10. Hislop (26. Riley), 11. McMahon, 14. Bernardi, 16. Cartwright, 17. Handcock (12. Grass), 18. Dominikovich.
Subs Not Used: 1. Drover, 21. Burton, 35. Harris, 71. Hughes.
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By – Nikola Pozder