Women’s Premier League Round 6 Review

For most matches that was the case, but in the vital round between Illawarra Stingrays and Manly, two of the major contenders who desperately wanted victory in this round to prove their status at the top of the table it was a bridge to far.
The table?s top five is beginning to get a little crowded, as NWS Koalas, Macarthur Rams and Sydney University now sit tied for the third position. The next round will certainly be an interesting one as each team will be looking to break the dead lock and come out on top.
Illawarra Stingrays VS Manly United FC
Winter is coming, or it may be already here as both Manly and Illawarra found out today in their round 6 match of the Women?s Premier league. Despite the chilly weather a decent crowd for both sides were out in force to cheer on their girls. The cold would not put a damper on this match though, as both teams had plenty on the line, Illawarra looking to keep their perch atop of the table and Manly conversely looking to knock them down.
 Many began smartly with good passing combinations and made early forays into Illawarra?s defensive third, but well marshalled Stingray?s defence dealt with the early attacks. Against the runoff play, Illawarra advanced forward and a shot by Michelle Carney went wide of the left hand upright.
10 minutes into the game, Illawarra charged back into the Manly area and a well hit shot by Zoeie Redman was hit straight at the Manly goal Keeper, Alyssa Harris held it well. From the ensuing Manly clearance Illawarra regained possession and a through ball from Kimberly Bonilla found Michael Carney in space, but her run into the box stalled and the chance was missed, but she retained possession and with a return ball found Kimberly Bonilla but her shot to the right was wide from 15 metres out.
Fifteen minutes into the game, Manly again attacked down left and a pin point cross by Ellen Wheatley found Alex Kent on the far post, eight metres from goal but her volley was hit wide with a goal beckoning.
Play remained with both sides probing for a chance, when a through ball from Kimberly Bonilla found Erica Halloway on the right and she was clear but her cross far too long leaving manly to recover possession and they then countered with good passing combinations between, Anna Nakao and Tiarn Powell and a dangerous ball into the area was cleaned up by the Stingray?s defence.
Manly were starting to control the game and went close with a break by Alex Kent whose cross into the area was not met by any blue shirts. Also a speculative cross from Ellen Wheatley was turned behind for a corner and the following delivery by Jessie Wharepouri was again in the danger zone, but the Manly attackers could not get on the end of the corner.
Following on from that movement, combinations between Ellen Wheatley and Jessie Wharepouri, who found Tiarn Powell with a lovely square ball which she dispatched towards the goal and her shot hit bottom of the right upright with the Stingray?s goal keeper well beaten.
The Manly team had the main percentage of possession, but the Stingrays were dangerous on the counter and against the run of play, combinations between Kimberly Bonilla and Michelle Carney resulted in Manly scrambling the ball for a corner.
Manly continued to press forward and a dangerous cross from the right was plucked out of the air, Trudy Burke Illawarra?s goal keeper and again she saved the day when Ellen Wheatley found herself in front of the goal but her shot, though powerful was directed straight at Trudy Burke who held well.
With the half time whistle blown, honours were even on the scoreboard but Manly might rue squandering the first half opportunities as they had the greater percentage of the game and chances, which forced the champions to fight hard to contain their opponents and only had opportunities on the counter attack.
As the whistle blew for the start of the second half, one could see that Illawarra Stingrays came out with more purpose and more aggression sharing equal possession with Manly and both teams were like boxers seeing who could get the opening to take advantage.
In the 50^th minute, a thirty long throw by Karen Clarke eluded the Manly defence and found Kimberly Bonilla in space behind and her cross in front of goal was wasted as no attackers had presented themselves in the penalty box. Manly hit back, with a speculative shot by Tiarn Powell as she cut in from the right side, but her shot was well wide of the goal.
Stingrays were now enjoying their best part of the game and chances fall to Kimberly Bonilla who headed the cross from Michelle Carney just wide of the goal with the Manly keeper beaten followed by good interplay between Erica Halloway Michelle Carney, whose shot finished straight at the keeper.
Manly retaliated with a chance from Jessie Wharepouri but the ball flew just over the cross bar. Manly were again starting to find their rhythm and again Jessie Wharepouri after good lead up play with a skilful individual run beat two defenders but shot straight at the Illawarra goal keeper, Trudy Burke who saved well.
As the game bounced from end to end, in the 65^th minute another good cross by Illawarra from the left found Kimberly Bonilla in space, but her header hit the crossbar and went over with the Manly keeper stranded.
The game continued much in this pattern, with chances missed by Manly?s Lousie Neville whose shot as too high and another shot by Tiarn Powell was palmed away by the Illawarra Keeper Trudy Burke with an excellent save.
In the 75^th minute, Manly hopes were almost dashed when a corner from Illawarra hit a defenders hand in the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Michelle Carney scored from the spot but the referee ordered it to be retaken for encroachment into the area by Illawarra players.  The pressure then proved too great for Michelle Carney, enabling the Manly Goal Keeper, Alyssa Harris to make a great stop her right on the retake. Perhaps justice was done as it appeared to be a very soft penalty decision.
After the penalty, the game seesawed from end to end with both teams not able to take their opportunities. Defences for both sides, played well fending off all aerial threats into their penalty area enabling the match to end anti-climactic to both sides, who would no doubt feel they had done enough with the chances created to finish with maximum points.
Illawarra Stingrays Coach Steve Marsh had this to say on his team?s performance and end result, ?Very disappointing today, we didn?t play to the standards we expect for the stingrays, and we should have played a lot better.?

?No, I am not satisfied with a draw, we had more than enough opportunities to win the game for our self, we failed to take and to be fair to manly they closed us down when they had the opportunity too. Again, we failed to take the chances we should have taken.?
Despite their many chances to ?dethrone? Illawarra, Manly Coach Grant Lee was happy with his team?s performance, ?Very happy, I thought they played very well, I thought we controlled the game quite well, there were not a lot of chances at both ends, and the keepers were not really called into played except the penalty. We were quite fortunate it was a retake and the keeper did very well, held her ground make and made Michael Carney have to hit her target.?
Illawarra Stingrays VS Manly United FC
Sunday 29^th of April
At J.J Kelly Park
Illawarra United FC:  1. T.Burke 2. C.Constable 3. K.Clay 4. C.Danyi 5. J.Cooper 6. Z.Redman 8. E.Halloway 10. M.Carney 11. K.Bonilla 15.  C.Cooper  16. K.Clarke
Subs not used: 7. J.Collingridge 12. M.Micheal 13. J.Baker 14. A.Bristow 111. S.Gollop
Yellow Card(s): 4. C.Danyi 68?
Coach: Steve Marsh
Manly United FC: 1. A.Harris 2. G.O?toole 3.  A.Wailson 5. E.Wheatley (4. S.Roger 72?) 6. A.Nakao 7. R.Parsons 9. L. Neville 12. A.Kent (10. L.Morison 66?) 16. J.Wharepouri 17. T.Powell 19. A.Cabezas
Subs not used: 11. K.Crawfordn 18. K.Griffon 20. A.Sweetnam
Coach: Grant Lee
Blacktown Spartans 1 (M Hansen Kofoed 47m) Northbridge FC 1 (R Lewis 53m),
Although Spartans took the lead through Monnique Kofoed, Northbridge away from home came from behind to with a goal in the 53^rd minute by Rachel Lewis to obtain their first premier ship point of the season and hopefully they can continue in the coming weeks to climb off the bottom of the ladder.
Inter Lions 0 NWS Koalas 2 (C Dimarco 23m D Borg 43m),
Inter Lions coming off last weeks heavy defeat  by Manly were hoping to get back into that winning vein but even though they were at home NWS Koalas ended that hope with two well taken goals in the first half by Dimarco in the 23^rd minute and Borg in the 43^rd minute to record an excellent victory away from home.
Macarthur Rams 8 (R Cartwright 8/28m R Rollason 11/26m L Donnelly 45m S Haim 52/88m J Crane 56m) Sutherland Shire 1 (K Pryer 55m),
The Rams as they had shown in previous weeks had threatened to win by a large score and one must feel sorry for Sutherland to find the Rams in such sparkling form with braces of goals Renne Cartwright, Renee Rollason and Stephanie Haim assisted by individual goals by Laura Donnelly Jemma Crane to continue their climb into the top four at the expense of the Hapless Sutherland Shire, whose lone goal was scored by K Pryer.
Central Coast Mariners 1 (O Keane 87m) Gladesville Ravens 1 (F Agar 69m),
The Mariners at home would be disappointed at the draw with Gladesville Ravens in a match would have anticipated taking all three points. After Gladesville had taken the lead in the 69^th Minute through F Agar, the Mariners only got a last gasp equalizer through Oriana Keane in the 87^th minute.
Sydney University 3 (S Spackman 18m J Kingsley 36/44m) Marconi Stallions 0.
The students once again defied the critics and continued their rapid climb up the table with a convincing win at home against one of the early competition favourites Marconi Stallions, the game was well and truly in the students control after they had scored three excellent first half goals by Spackman in the 18^th and Kingsley with a brace in the 36^th and 44^th minute. And they continued on with that form to hold that score to the final whistle blew.
NSWIS 8 Northbridge 0
NSWIS continued on their merry way with a resounding defeat of the unfortunate Northbridge with a barrage of goals giving them an 8-0 victory  which takes them to equal first on the table but with their game against Marconi Stallions on Wednesday the 2^nd of May who are struggling to find form one can only see that NSWIS should win the match taking them to a clear lead at the top of the ladder.
Reserve Grade
This round sees Sydney University make their way into the top five on the table,  and Manly now sits in fifth but is tied with Macarthur, Central coast and Blacktown, so next week?s round will be quite the important one to see if these teams can break the deadlock and move up the ladder.
Macarthur Rams, Central Coast Mariners and NWS Koalas share the honour of having the highest scores of the round, each defeating their opponents 4-0.
Results
Blacktown Spartans 2 Northbridge FC 1,
Inter Lions 0 NWS Koalas 4,
Illawarra Stingrays 2 Manly United FC 1,
Macarthur Rams 4 Sutherland Shire 0,
Central Coast Mariners 4 Gladesville Ravens 0,
Sydney University 3 Marconi Stallions 0.
-By Tyler Corry