Arrive Alive NSW Women?s Super League Round 17 Review
The top four all snared their expected three points though the competition leaders, Western NSW Panthers, had a tougher than expected match with UNSW.
The Premiership has all come down to one game; next weekend?s match between Illawarra Stingrays and Western NSW Panthers. The Club Championship will also be decided at J.J.Kelly Park so you can be sure that a big crowd will on hand to witness the battle of the competition?s giants.
Illawarra tuned up for next weekend with a comfortable 6-0 win over Northern Tigers at Parklands Oval. With Michelle Heyman missing the match through injury the Stingrays were down one of their major strike weapons but, as we?ve seen throughout the season, Illawarra has an arsenal of ?missiles? to wound their opponents with.
Caitlyn Danyi enjoyed scoring her team?s 100th goal of the season last weekend so much that she decided to add a brace this weekend. Watch out Carney and Heyman; Danyi could be pushing for a striker?s role! Michelle Carney snared her usual goal whilst Taryn Ruiz, Zoe Redman and the talented youngster, Talitha Kramer, also got amongst the scorers.
The Tigers were just a little outclassed but battled away as always.
A good win for Illawarra who will know be busy preparing a big reception for their Bathurst visitors next Sunday!
Northern Tigers 0
Illawarra Stingrays 6 (Caitlyn Danyi 2, T.Ruiz, M.Carney, T.Kramer, Z.Redman)
Speaking of those Bathurst visitors, Western NSW Panthers had a tougher than expected battle with the girls from UNSW at Alec Lamberton Field. The UNSW girls, low on competition points and short of player numbers, conceded in the first 30 seconds but then kept the competition leaders scoreless for the next 89 minutes.
UNSW, ably represented by birthday girls Siobhan Hayes, Samira Alamudi and Nicole Mohneke, turned in a Herculean effort that may or may not have been fuelled by the promise of excessive amounts of birthday cake after the game. UNSW also welcomed back team Captain Alex Smith who?d been visiting Japan for two weeks to attend ninja turtle school?.look, that?s what they told me. Who am I to argue with a pack of excited females?
Seriously, this was a fine effort from the UNSW team. Western NSW Panthers, I?m sure, had one eye on next weekend?s match with Illawarra but they would have expected a more dominant result from the team sitting bottom of the competition ladder. I?m sure they?ll be suitably primed for their visit to Wollongong next Sunday.
Western NSW Panthers 1 (no goal scorers supplied)
UNSW 0
Southern NSW FC scored a very solid 5-0 victory over Bankstown Wildcats at Ison Park. Whilst it took the locals 30 minutes to open the scoring they added four more goals in the following 35 minutes to cement their win. The usuals suspects did the damage for Southern NSW with Meehan, Cobb and French amongst the scorers. Southern will be working towards a semi final with Gladesville Ravens in a fortnight. Next week though, a visit from the UNSW Ninja Turtles!
Southern NSW FC 5 (K.Meehan, B.Leddy, L.Lloyd-Jones, E.Cobb, K.French)
Bankstown Wildcats 0
In other matches Gladesville Ravens continued their fine recent form with a 4-2 win over St George FC at Peel Park whilst Inter Lions and Blacktown Spartans played out a 0-0 draw.
Gladesville Ravens 4 (no goal scorers supplied)
St George FC 2 (no goal scorers supplied)
Blacktown Spartans 0
Inter Lions 0
In action on Saturday evening Gladesville Ravens, with two goals from Najla Eid, beat Inter Lions in a catch up game. Rose Scarlato scored the lone goal for Inter.
So, we move on to round 18 next weekend; the final round of preliminary matches prior to the semi finals. Whilst all eyes will turn to Wollongong for the Minor Premiership/Club Championship decider between the Stingrays and Panthers, the other eight teams will be hoping for a final taste of success prior to season?s end. Semi finals beckon for two of the eight, Mad Monday for the other six. Do the girls of the Arrive Alive Women?s Super League have a Mad Monday? If so, how does someone go about getting an invitation to the fun and frivolity?
Good luck to everyone next Sunday.
-By Ross Anderson
