Arrive Alive Women?s Premier League Semi Final Review

Sunday dawned a great day for football at J.J.Kelly Park where the Illawarra Stingrays and Manly United FC were playing to be the first side through to the Arrive Alive Women?s Premier League Grand Final.
The Stingrays dominated the play in the opening five minutes, working the ball around nicely without necessarily threatening. Manly tended to turn possession over but it seemed more a matter of the visitors settling the semi final nerves than anything terminal.
The two teams gradually worked themselves into a pattern, with Illawarra?s Michelle Carney proving her side?s catalyst in attack. Carney was everywhere in the early exchanges; playing a nice ball to put Ashleigh Connor into space. Connor struck the ball well from a tight angle but a diving Alyssa Harris in goals deflected the ball away for Manly.
The Stingrays started to create more regular problems for the Manly defence. The visitors were working hard to close Illawarra down but this was proving to be something of a challenge. In the 20^th minute a free kick by Illawarra was allowed to bounce by a hesitant Manly defence. The ball fell to the feet of Sam Spackman, standing by herself at the edge of the box. Her shot was perfect, finding the top left hand corner to give Illawarra a 1-0 lead.
A mistimed defensive header from Manly then saw Illawarra break clear again. Ash Connor advanced towards goal but a magnificent sliding tackle from Manly keeper Alyssa Harris saved the day for Manly. Only one side looked like scoring at this stage with Illawarra in control of the middle of the park. Manly were asking very few questions of The Stingrays defensively. Manly were having difficulty coping with any high ball coming into their penalty box.
Manly Coach Larry Bates went for an early substitution, replacing Alex Kent with Beth Sweeney. 
Manly were struggling to find any rhythm; their first shot at goal coming in the 30^th minute with a long range speculator from Tiarn Powell. Illawarra again broke forward from defence with a cross from Courtney Danyi finding Ash Connor in front of goal. After turning her defender Connor looked certain to score but Manly keeper Harris saved the day again with a fine block. The ball spiralled clear and still looked likely to end up in the back of the net before being cleared off the line by a Manly defender.
Manly?s best opportunity of the half came after Illawarra turned over possession in attack. Manly countered quickly upfield with Liz Morrison?s deflected cross causing some dramas in front of goal before Illawarra closed the attack down.
Illawarra then played some beautiful attacking football, spreading the ball left where a superb Ash Connor cross found Trudy Camilleri ghosting in at the back post to beat the defence and put Illawarra up 2-0 in the 40th minute.
Connor picked up a yellow card soon after for what the referee considered a crude challenge on a Manly player.
Illawarra continued to attack in the shadows of half time as Manly clung on desperately.
At the break The Stingrays held a well deserved 2-0 lead after a dominant display.
The opening moments of the second half saw opportunities at both ends of the park. The Stingrays came close to scoring on two occasions, Manly once. A classy corner in the 49^th minute from Sam Spackman found Trudy Camilleri bursting through the pack to volley away a superb goal. Things had looked grim for Manly already but now they looked in danger of being embarrassed.
Manly picked themselves up however and created a chance of their own soon after with a cross finding Tiarn Powell free at the back post. Unfortunately Powell?s shot was wide of target.
Fifteen minutes into the second half Manly broke forward in a rare attacking raid. Manly?s Heidi Van Weeren was brought to ground in the box with the referee signalling a penalty to the visitors. Manly Captain Gill Foster stepped up to the mark to slot away the penalty, making it Illawarra 3 Manly 1.
Manly then substituted Liz Morrison with Rachel Marr.
The goal appeared to spark Manly into action. Their game suddenly started to come together. A Manly corner was just over the head of a leaping Heidi Van Weeren before a free kick to Manly brought some danger for Illawarra before a fine take by keeper Trudy Burke.
It took Illawarra some time to regroup as Manly grew in confidence.
Illawarra Coach Brett Wallin the substituted Ash Connor with Rachel Cowin in the 71^st minute.
Two minutes later The Stingrays replaced Courtney Danyi with Talitha Kramer. 
Manly?s Heidi Van Weeren, now in an attacking role, then set up a fine ball for Elyce Bates who propped back inside before shooting straight to the keeper. Despite the lift in Manly?s play Illawarra still looked comfortable.  Manly had improved considerably on their first half performance but just weren?t able to do enough to reel in The Stingrays two goal lead.
Disaster almost struck for Manly in the 80^th minute when a back pass was played to keeper Harris. The Manly custodian mistimed her kick at the ball, leaving Illawarra?s Michelle Carney racing at goal. Harris managed to recover though, pushing Carney?s shot away. Some follow up pinball action in front of goal was then disarmed by a Manly clearance.
An Illawarra free kick brought further drama for the Manly defence with another mistimed clearance falling to the path of Jessica Cooper who surged towards goal. Her shot was well held low down by Manly keeper Alyssa Harris.
Illawarra then subbed Kristen Lee with Jayd Cunningham.
Illawarra continued to press forward as the Manly adrenalin rush seemed to have passed. Manly Coach Larry Bates replaced Rachel Marr with Ella Gabezas.
Play had begun to go end to end but Illawarra appeared in control of the situation. The full time whistle blew with Illawarra running out 3-1 winners, leaving Manly to play Inter Lions in next week?s Final at Cromer Park.
Illawarra Stingrays Captain Michelle Carney was very happy with her side?s performance. ?The girls put in a great effort today? said Carney. The Illawarra star expressed her delight at being through to another Grand Final.
Manly United FC Captain Gill Foster was obviously disappointed. She believed that her side had come back into the game after hard time but had been beaten by a side that played some very good football. Foster said that her side still believed that they were capable of winning the Grand Final.
The better side won on the day. Illawarra dominated the first half and, whilst Manly fought back after they scored, they were outplayed on the day. This was an impressive effort by the defending Premiers; a performance that will have the remaining finalists wondering what they?ll need to do to knock the champions off their pedestal.
ILLAWARRA STINGRAYS 3 (T.Camilleri 40m/49m, S.Spackman 20m)
MANLY UNITED FC           1 (G.Foster 61m)
Over at The Crest the Minor Semi Final proved to be a much tighter affair.
This was a match where the defenders may well have been the stars of the day. Both sides created plenty of opportunities but were continually denied by great goalkeeping and rugged defence.
In the 11^th minute of play a touch of individual brilliance broke the deadlock when Inter Captain Catherine Cannuli launched an amazing left foot thunderbolt from the flank to leave Macarthur keeper Michelle Grigg grasping at air.  The early lead buoyed The Lions but Macarthur were far from done with, striving hard to find the equaliser.
It was no surprise when, in the 25^th minute, Rams Captain Renee Cartwright drew her side level with a well taken goal of her own. Neither side could grab the advantage before half time, leaving the sides level 1-1 at the break.
The second half proved just as exciting with the two sides trying everything to find the back of the net. As time marched on it seemed likely that we were going to see more than ninety minutes of action. However, in the 79^th minute a fine cross by 15 year old Inter Lions defender Kristy Pavlicevic found Catherine Cannuli lurking to head into the back of the net for Inter?s second goal.
Soon after, Pavlicevic turned from provider to saviour by defending a three on one situation in front of goal to clear a Rams attack. Brooke Starrett then scored a third goal for Inter Lions in the 83^rd minute before Laura Donnelly ensured a tense few minutes before the final whistle when she scored Rams second goal in the 86^th minute.
At the end though it was Inter Lions who lived to fight another day; winning the match by a score of 3-2.
The Lions now move on to play Manly United FC in the Preliminary Final next weekend. Macarthur Rams bow out of the finals but are sure to be back for another crack at the title in 2011.
INTER LIONS                3 (C.Cannuli 11m/79m, B.Starrett 83m)
MACARTHUR RAMS 2  (R.Cartwright 25m, L.Donnelly 86m)
This was certainly a bright start to the finals with some quality football on show at both grounds. Next weekend Manly United FC will go to war with Inter Lions for a spot in the Grand Final against defending champions, Illawarra Stingrays. This should be a tremendous match as two very good football sides look to be a part of the ultimate contest.
See you all next weekend.
-By Ross Anderson