Women’s Premier League Round 9 Review
As the season draws on, the battles between these teams will prove to be exciting for all involved as the slightest stumble could change the entire competition.
While the titans of the top battle it out, those at the bottom will not relinquish so easily and will be looking to strike, not only to climb the ladder, though to finishing in the bottom positions.
Sydney University vs Inter Lions
On a dull Autumn day at Wentworth Park, the game opened brightly with Inter Lions testing the opposition goalkeeper with a cross by Kristi Pavlicevic. University goalkeeper S. McLaren claimed the ball comfortably and sent her team down the other end on a quick counterattack. Sydney Uni?s O. Kennedy found herself one-on-one with a defender with a clear run to goal, though could not round her as the opportunity was lost.
The students again put the Inter Lions goal under attack with a good run down the left by O. Kennedy. Her searching pass had a bit too much pace and ran away from J. Kingsley with only the goalkeeper to beat.
The students were applying pressure early and were making inroads down the left side of the Inter Lions? defence. Sydney Uni made a couple of breaks to gain consecutive corner kicks, however these were cleared by the Inter Lions defenders.
Inter Lions? G. Stylianiu sent away Heidi Makrillos, but a low ground shot was hit straight at S. McLaren in the University goal who gathered well.
The students continued to attack down their right hand side and created chances for J. Kingsley, though her finishing was off target.
15? minutes into the game, again J. Kingsley broke through the Lions? defence though was tackled. Shouts for a penalty fell on deaf ears as the students were looking to open the scoring.
On 20? minutes, again good interplay by the students S. Spackman and J. Kingsley opened up the Lions defence, but the Lions scrambled to give away a corner.
The students were dominating the midfield and were awarded a free-kick from 30-metres out; taken by O. Kennedy, the shot brought the best out of Amanda Horafios in the Inter Lions goal.
The students were proving faster and stronger, being first on the ball, with S. Defrancesco, O. Kennedy, S. Spackman and J. Kingsley controlling the forward play, while the midfield and defence were not giving Inter Lions any chance to mount any counterattacks.
Again, another break by J. Kingsley found her alone with the Inter Lions goalkeeper. Again, an excellent save by Amanda Horafios kept the scores level.
The students kept on applying the pressure and had excellent chances to score but could not find the back of the net until the 35? minute when S. Spackman was sent on a clear run to goal. Spackman?s innocent looking shot was fumbled by Horafios, slipping out of her grasp as the finished in the back of the net to concede a soft goal. A real pity for the shot-stopper who had proven unbeatable with a string of saves prior to the goal.
The students were finding plenty of space to attack down the right and had chances to double the score before half-time, but failed to deliver the telling blow on each of these opportunities.
As the whistle blew for half-time Inter Lions would have been happy to go in only one goal behind and the students must have been disappointed with many chances they wasted.
At the start of the second period, the students continued to attack and earned a corner on the right which found H. Vanweeren. Her rasping drive cannoned off the post with the goalkeeper well beaten.
Sydney Uni then paid the penalty for the missed chances as the Lions, with a quick counterattack, drew level. The ball found Heidi Makrillos in front of goal and she took her opportunity with a strong shot into the roof of the net.
The goal breathed new life into the game, as Inter Lions seemed to gain confidence from the goal and began to compete with more energy and urgency.
Another good cross from Heidi Makrillos was not read by her teammates and the chance was wasted.
The students then hit back and J. Kingsley found herself in space, but her shot from 2-metres sailed well over the crossbar.
In this passage of the game the Lions were making things more difficult for the students who had previously controlled most of the match.
On 60? minutes a free kick on the right by C. Ikonomov found H. Vanveeren in space on the left and her first-time shot rocketed into the net from 12-metres to put the students back into the lead.
Shortly after, a corner for the students from the right by C. Ikonomov was driven into the goal area and the finish by S. Defrancesco was denied by the crossbar, failing to put the match out of the Lions reach.
They almost paid the penalty as a quick counter from the Lions found Heidi Makrillos in front of goal with only the keeper to beat, but her shot went wide.
In the 75? minute, the pressure finally took its toll on the Lions when bad defensive play by Erica Toscano saw a chance fall to K. Ward. Her delicate lob went over the goalkeeper?s outstretched arms and into the back of the net.
In the latter stages of the game Angela Mokhtar for the Lions had a one-on-one opportunity with the goalkeeper, but her lob went over the shot-stopper?s head and over the crossbar.
For the students, Kingsley went close twice, once shaving the crossbar and another with a low drive from the angle on the right that hit the base of the right upright.
The game continued into the final minutes with both sides fighting for possession, but with the final whistle Sydney University secured the three points.
Sydney University Coach Bill Henshaw was pleased with his team?s result:
?We weren?t at our best today, but we did enough to win the game.
?We had a couple of girls out with injuries and that affected the flow, but pleased with the result. Just concerned we were not at our best.?
However, he was mindful of the number of missed chances the side had:
?Definitely, we created so many chances but the quality of our final pass in their back third was poor, I think that was rife throughout the day.
?Normally we are pretty hot at conversion rate, normally we get seven out of ten, and today we were down to like one-two out of ten.?
Inter Lions coach, Joe Baldacci, despite the loss, was happy with his team?s effort:
?Quite happy, considering it is a very young side.
?Inexperience comes to part a lot of it; however they equalised pretty quickly in the second-half.
?I think were we unlucky not to get a couple more but over all very happy.
?For a very young side, a very inexperienced side they sure gave a team full of names a run for their money.?
Sydney University vs Inter Lions
Sunday 20th May
@ Wentworth Park
Sydney University: 1.S. McLaren (21.I.Krigstein 87?); 3.E. Schiller, 5.H.Vanweeren (4.K.Ward 74?), 6.M. Holmwood, 7.J.Kingsley, 9.S.Defrancesco, 10.O.Kennedy, 11.S.Spackman (8.E. Wilson 56?), 13.H.Kimbar, 18.A.Clifford, 22.C.Paitie
Substitutes Not Used: 16.C. Ikonomov, 14.K.Trebilcock
Coach: Bill Henshaw
Inter Lions: 21.A.Horafios; 2.E. Toscano, 3.J. Martinez (12.K. Rawnsley 58?), 4.M.Kalogeropoulos, 6.E.Usherwood (7.A. Mokhtar 82?), 8.A. Smith, 9.G. Stylianiu, 10.H. Makrillos, 11.K Rohrer, 16.T. Mikaelian, 15.K. Pavlicevic
Substitutes Not Used: 5.S. Nagy, 14.A. Dahdah, 18.M. Paelato
Coach: Joe Baldacci
Central Coast 0
Manly United FC 2 (S Roger 13m J Wharepouri 59m)
Manly United FC have once again proven their place in the upper echelons of the competition ladder with another win under the belt. Going up against Central Coast on their home turf did not falter Manly the slightest, with a 2-0 win, a goal by Sarah Roger in the opening minutes setting the pace for the game. Central Coast did not go down without a fight, as Manly did not manage to breach the defence again until early in the second-half, with Jessie Wharepouri sealing the deal and putting Manly well into the lead.
NWS Koalas 6 (E Stewart 44/71/84m D Borg 50/77m E Perry 68m)
Blacktown Spartans 0
If anyone was not sure of the NWS Koalas standing in the competition, this result against Blacktown Spartans will put to bed any doubts. Emma Stewart drew the first goal of what would prove to be a hat trick spread out over the course of the game, followed by Dalia Borg who took home a brace for her team, taking the second-half by storm. In between the glut of goals, Eyllse Perry slotted one into the back of the net. The final result a resounding 6-0 win.
Sutherland Sharks 0
Illawarra Stingrays 3 (J Marsh 29m E Halloway 79/86m)
After their win last week, Illawarra was back to their best form with another win to their name. The first-half was lonely in terms of goals, but no less important as J. Marsh put the team in the lead on 29? minutes. Sutherland put up a commendable fight over the next 50? minutes, with Illawarra being kept away from the goal until E. Halloway managed a brace with two goals in the closing stages of the game.
Marconi Stallions 1 (E Chronis 49m)
Macarthur Rams 2 (L Cohlet 61m S Haim 77m)
Marconi at home in a game which they needed to win led the Rams with a goal by E. Chronis in the 49? minute. The Stallions held the lead until the 61? minute when Macarthur equalise via L. Cohlet. The Rams secured maximum points in the 77? minute when Stephanie Haim netted to consolidate their high position on the table.
Northbridge FC 1 (T Slatyer 87m)
Gladesville Ravens 2 (A Clayton 21m F Hickey 85m)
Gladesville finally secured their first victory of the season with a hard fought 2-1 win over the cellar dwellers, Northbridge. Gladesville went ahead in the 21? minute when A. Clayton took the first goal of the game. The side later consolidated the win with a goal by F. Hickey in the 85? minute. Northbridge scored a consolation goal in the 87? minute via Thea Slatyer, but this left them cemented on the bottom of the ladder.
Reserve Grade:
In the Reserve Grade the Illawarra Stingrays were upset 3-0 by Sutherland Sharks. Meanwhile, in a reversal of the First Grade game, Sydney University lost to Inter Lions 1-0. With the Stingrays loss, Marconi has now broken away to sit in top spot on the ladder.
Manly United FC 2 Central Coast 0
NWS Koalas 2 Blacktown Spartans 0
Sutherland Sharks 3 Illawarra Stingrays 0
Marconi Stallions 2 Macarthur Rams 0
Northbridge FC 1 Gladesville Ravens 2
Sydney University 0 Inter Lions 1
-By Tyler Corry
