Arrive Alive Women?s Super League Round 14 Review

Gladesville Ravens are finishing their season in great style but, six points adrift of fourth place, they may have left their run too late. It?s certainly building up to an exciting conclusion to the season with competition points as precious as gold in the race to the line.
Blacktown Spartans endured a busy weekend, hosting the Western NSW Panthers on Saturday and Central Coast Lightning on Sunday at Francis Park.
The Spartans put in a sterling effort on Saturday, going down narrowly to the second placed Panthers. However, the match left them carrying a number of niggling injuries which weren?t going to be to their advantage in Sunday against the competitive Central Coast side.
Sunday?s match started with both sides feeling their way. Play was tending to be centred on the middle of the pitch with neither side really threatening. Bronwyn Jarvis was proving solid at the back for Blacktown, snuffing out any Lightning raids that looked even remotely dangerous. Central Coast did eventually get in the first shot of the game with Tamara Myers hitting an overhead shot which was held by the keeper. Alanna Nicholson was starting to make her mark on the game for Central Coast also, using her pace to get in behind the Spartans defence. 
In the 25^th minute The Lightning won a corner. Laura Orouke-Mah stepped up and hit the ball crisply into the goal mouth where Spartans keeper Sarah Glades tried to punch the ball away only to see it rebound back into goal. Central Coast had taken the lead.
From this point Central Coast started to dominate territorially. Blacktown?s unfortunate penchant for turning over possession started to work against them as Central Coast mounted pressure. A shot from Myers went straight to the keeper before Ashleigh Morris made a nice run for Lightning which led to a succession of corners. From the second corner Liza Edwards put a header just wide of the post.
In the 40^th minute Central Coast produced another great corner which saw Tamara Myers rise above the pack to slot away a stylish header. Things had just got a whole lot tougher for The Spartans. Worse was to come just 5 minutes later when Alanna Nicholson dispossessed a Blacktown defender inside the box and crossed to goal where Liza Edwards put away a well taken goal.
The 3-0 half time lead left The Spartans deflated but Central Coast deserved their lead after playing the more enthusiastic football.
The Spartans came out strongly after half time with Megan Burtenshaw making an incisive dash before shooting into the side netting. Blacktown tried to push forward, a tactic which brought success when Amanda Xuerub made a fine break before releasing a quality shot which bobbled over the line after rebounding off most of the woodwork. This fine effort raised Blacktown?s hopes of a fightback but soon after they were forced to replace the experienced Cassandra Inman through injury. Larissa Monkerud took Inman?s place and quickly went about trying to prise open the Lightning defence.
But it was Central Coast who were crafting the better chances at this stage. With Alanna Nicholson and Liza Edwards looking dangerous every time they touched the ball. Unfortunately shots on goal were going everywhere but into the back of the net which must have been frustrating for Central Coast supporters.
In the 64^th minute Blacktown wasted the opportunity to clear the ball. Jenna Hodge and Ashleigh Morris combined to create Lightning?s fourth goal, scored by Morris.
Blacktown replaced Jessica Edwards with Alix Roberts but it didn?t stop Central Coast. In the 71^st minute Blacktown were again guilty of turning over possession in sight of their own goal. Central Coast pounced on the ball, swinging it to Liza Edwards who beat the keeper with a sublime finish. At 5-1, with close on 20 minutes remaining, Blacktown were on a hiding to nothing. They battled away, creating some half chances of their own through good play by Larissa Monkerud, Elif Albayrak and Erin Connell. Amanda Xuereb also used her pace to test the Central Coast defence. However, the Lightning girls held firm, often breaking out of defence to attack the Blacktown goal.
In the closing moments of the game Lightning Jenna Hedge was carded after a clumsy tackle on a Spartans player. This brought The Spartans a penalty which was calmly converted by Bronwyn Jarvis, leaving a final score of 5-2 in favour of Central Coast Lightning.
Neil Ross was disappointed. He said that his side had hurt themselves from set plays with two of Lightning?s goals coming from corners. Ross said that The Spartans performance was patchy; possibly suffering from the quick turn around in matches. He felt that his side did make some inroads but poor crosses and passing had caused these raids to break down.
Central Coast Coach Mark Boyd felt that the game had been a hard battle. He was happy with the way his side had maintained possession in the first half. Being in such a good position at half time he said that his side had expected Blacktown to come at them after half time. However, Boyd said that his girls had done a good job and that he was happy with their performance.
An important win for The Lightning, who are still in the hunt for the finals. Blacktown were disappointing with their lack of consistency this season the only black mark on an improved year. 
Blacktown Spartans        2 (A.Xuerub 49m, B.Jarvis 89m)
Central Coast Lightning 5 (L.Edwards 45m/71m, T.Myers 40m, L.Orouke-Mah 25m, A.Morris 64m)
At Parklands Oval the competition front runners, Inter Lions, proved too good for Northern Tigers by the tune of 4-0.
I haven?t much information regarding this game, other than the goalscorers. The usual suspects found the back of the net for The Lions with Dani Calvi, Catherine Cannuli, Natalie Spirovski and Nichole Laws putting their names on the scoresheet.
Inter were too classy for the young Tigers outfit. The Lions continue their march owards the Minor Premiership.
Northern Tigers 0
Inter Lions         4 (D.Calvi, C.Cannuli, N.Spirovski, N.Laws)
In Bathurst the Western NSW Panthers, backing up from a trip to Sydney on Saturday for a catch up match with Blacktown Spartans, struggled with the PCYC Lady Hawks.
After Lauren Diduszko scored in the 31^st minute for the home side The Panthers threatened to break away but never quite did so. An own goal from Lady Hawks in the 59^th minute looked to have settled the match but, to the visitors credit, they hung in to score a goal of their own through Amelia Keider in the 90^th minute.
A credible effort from the Lady Hawks, but the gutsy Panthers always find enough to snare the points. They maintain second place on the ladder but need to be wary as teams behind them have games in hand. I?m sure the Bathurst girls will be in the mix come the finals.
Western NSW Panthers 2 (L.Diduszko 33m, own goal 59m)
PCYC Lady Hawks        1 (A.Keider 90m)
The in form Gladesville Ravens kept their slim finals chances alive with a resounding 6-0 win over St George FC at Magdala Park,
The Ravens had a battle on their hands in the first half with Fatma Agar?s 33^rd minute strike being the difference between the two teams at the break. However, after half time The Ravens exploded into action with Agar completing a hat trick after goals in the 47^th and 60^th minutes. Aryn De Jong joined in the party with a brace in the 85^th and 89^th minutes along with a Jessica Francis goal in the 82^nd minute. Those last ten minutes must have been awfully tough for the visitors.
You can?t help but be impressed by The Ravens recent efforts. If they?d been able to find this sort of form earlier in the season they may be right in the finals fight now. All they can do is keep winning and hope results go their way. Anything is possible.
St George must be looking forward to this disappointing season ending. It?s been a real struggle for them in recent weeks.
Gladesville Ravens 6 (F.Agar 33m/47m/60m, A.De Jong 85m/89m, J.Francis 80m)
St George FC          0
Finally, the big clash at Ison Park between Southern NSW and Sydney Tigers proved to be a hard fought game.
Southern NSW FC opened the scoring in the 7^th minute when the goodbye girl, Katie French, scored in her last game for the Southern side.
Hopes of a fairytale ending were somewhat premature though as The Tigers worked their way back into the game. Jenna Kingsley came to the fore with an equaliser in the 39^th minute before putting The Tigers in front when she scored in the 64^th minute.
Alicia Cavanagh put the game beyond doubt just 8 minutes later as she slotted away a well taken goal. This was an important win for the Sydney Tigers, allowing them to leap frog Southern NSW into third place. It?s still pretty congested around the top four though so no-one can take a finals spot for granted at the moment.
Southern NSW FC 1 (K.French 7m)
Sydney Tigers         3 (J.Kingsley 39m/64m, A.Cavanagh 72m)
A great weekend of football in the Arrive Alive Women?s Super League. The girls can now put their feet up until the next round on 19^th July. Don?t get too comfortable though as there?s obviously a lot on the line in the remaining rounds of the competition.
-By Ross Anderson