Women?s Premier League Round 16 Review

The crowd had barely found time to get comfortable in their seats before Manly?s Tiarn Powell put in a superb cross from the right flank for Ellen Wheatley to burst onto the ball and score.
Two minutes gone and the visitors were already in the lead, leaving Inter Lions with plenty of chasing to do.
Inter Coach Joe Baldacci had his king pin Catherine Cannuli playing in the centre of midfield, giving the Matildas star the task to architect her team?s attack.
Manly?s goalscorer Wheatley continued to cause plenty of headaches for the Inter defence with some strong, probing runs.
In the 13^th minute another ball from the right by Manly saw Jessie Wharepouri jump high to contest the ball with Inter keeper Amanda Horafios. The keeper failed to hold the ball but just did enough to get back to her line to stop the ball from trickling in for goal number two.
Manly were looking the more dangerous side in attack with The Lions having to work hard to keep the seasiders at bay. Inter tried to build their own attack but found the final pass hard to put to foot.
Inter?s first real attempt on goal came in the 25^th minute but was merely a speculator from midfield by Catherine Cannuli. Kristy Rohrer managed to win a corner for Inter Lions soon afterwards. This proved vital as, when taken, the corner zeroed in on goal where a scramble for possession saw Inter?s Jessica Martinez put away the equaliser.
Within moments Manly had taken the ball back into attacking range with Rachel Parsons shot from the edge of the box only being stopped by a leaping, finger tip save from Amanda Horafios. Manly had a succession of corners resulting from this play but were unable to take advantage of these opportunities.
In the 34^th minute a Manly foul on an Inter player on the edge of the 18 yard box gave Inter?s Catherine Cannuli a chance to work her magic. Cannuli hit the ball beautifully but a diving save from Manly?s keeper Alyssa Harris kept the scores level.
Manly raced forward into attack; running the Inter defence in circles. Tiarn Powell turned one way, another and when given some room rammed home a great shot to put her side ahead 2-1.
Manly sought to add to the score but Inter keeper Horafios was equal to the task; denying Manly?s flu ridden Captain, Gemma O?Toole, a goal from a header with a fine take.
High balls into the Inter box from the flanks were leaving the home side?s defence at sixes and sevens with Coach Joe Baldacci obviously having to come up with a solution to that problem at the break.
The girls headed to the sheds after a competitive first half with Manly United FC holding a 2-1 lead.
At the break Manly subbed in Alex Kent for Ellen Wheatley whilst Inter brought Maria Kalogeropoulos on for Kristi Pavlicevic.
The second half started with a flurry of chances. Inter attacked enthusiastically, bringing two saves from the Manly keeper. There were also some opportunities that didn?t require saving; something that Inter hoped they wouldn?t rue later in the game. At the other end of the park Manly also put the blow torch to the Inter defence with the crossbar being instrumental in maintaining the 2-1 scoreline in one instance.
Successive Manly corners were dealt with unconvincingly by The Lions but enough was done to clear the line. Keeper Horafios also foiled another Manly attempt with a courageous save.
Inter were hanging in but needed a spark. A Cannuli free kick from deep inside her own territory saw Martinez and Kalorgeropoulos combine to put Brooke Anderson on goal but her shot flew high.
Inter were made to pay soon afterwards when, in the 64^th minute, a great ball by Anna Nakao saw Tiarn Powell race through, beat the keeper and give Manly a 3-1 lead.
Powell then found herself in the clear again one minute later, calmly potting away her hat trick goal to extend Manly?s lead to 4-1.
Goals were now raining like gold coins on Concord Oval; Inter ran to the other end of the park with Brooke Anderson making up for her earlier miss to bring her side back to 4-2. Three goals in three minutes; what was going to happen next?
Powell and Liz Morison then combined for Manly only to see Morison?s shot hit the crossbar.  Both sides seemed to have plenty of holes in their defence. This game had the promise of a very large scoreline unless someone tightened up their play.
Inter created some good play through Cannuli, Usherwood and Stylianou but Mokhtar?s shot from distance never had the Manly keeper worried.
Another Manly sub saw Liz Morison replaced by Harley Johnston.
Manly saw a number of half chances come and go as they had a period where they monopolised possession.  Inter looked potentially dangerous too on occasions but neither side seemed to have their radar working in front of goal.
Manly Captain Gemma O?Toole ended her shift, allowing Isabella Walker to get amongst the action. Walker had an early scoring opportunity but Amanda Horafios was able to clear the ball for Inter.
Inter Captain Catherine Cannuli had moved to the left of midfield in the second half in an attempt to find some space but the effects of a weeklong virus seemed to have sapped the Matilda of her usual energy.  Cannuli struggled to get into the game.
Manly opened up another chance for Isabella Walker who steamed onto a through ball but wasn?t able to beat Horafios who slid in to clear the danger.
That was to be the last scoring opportunity of the game as the whistle blew soon after to signal the end of the game. Manly were deserved 4-2 winners over a brave Inter Lions side.
Inter Coach Joe Baldacci gave credit to his young side. He felt that they?d put in a very competitive performance that could have been blessed with a little more good luck.
Manly Coach was pleased with his side?s efforts after a tiring series of catch up matches. Lee was happy that his side had done enough to win and believed that they may have taken their foot off the pedal somewhat; leaving them to concede a couple of soft goals. Still, the Coach was very upbeat about his side?s progress.
INTER LIONS 2 (J.Martinez 25m, B.Anderson 67m)
MANLY UNITED FC 4 (E.Wheatley 2m, T.Powell 36/64/65m)
Out at Blacktown the Blacktown Spartans, with two goals in the first half, did enough to see off the Gladesville Ravens.
Lauren Bruce opened the scoring for The Spartans in the 10^th minute of play before Caitlin Mahony doubled the lead in the 35^th minute.
Gladesville had a lot of work to do to turn around a two goal deficit after half time and found the task beyond them. After a good effort last week against Sydney University, Gladesville may have gone into this game hoping for a strong result. However, Blacktown were too good on the day, scoring a morale boosting win.
BLACKTOWN SPARTANS 2 (L.Bruce 10m, C.Mahony 35m)
GLADESVILLE RAVENS 0
The NWS Koalas snuck past a determined Sutherland Shire with a goal in either half of their 2-0 victory.
Jess Seaman put The Koalas in front inside three minutes but NWS were unable to add to that lead prior to half time. The ever reliable Anna McLean was on hand in the 57^th minute to score the clincher.
Sutherland put in an improved effort on their recent form but it wasn?t quite enough to cause the upset.
The Koalas win keeps alive their finals hopes but there?s now some ground to make up as they try to reel in the top four. Sutherland drop to 11^th but at least today?s good showing will give them hope for some better results before season?s end.
NWS KOALAS 2 (J.Seaman 3m, A.McLean 57m)
SUTHERLAND SHIRE 0
The Illawarra Stingrays, fresh from being the first team to knock over the all conquering NSWIS side on Friday evening, came away from Marconi Stadium with a 3-0 win over the Marconi Stallions.
The legendary Michelle Carney opened the scoring in the 20^th minute of play giving her side a 1-0 lead which they maintained into the half time break.
In the second half Caitlin Cooper showed that her time in camp with The Matildas had done her no harm, scoring Illawarra?s second goal in the 59^th minute.
Young gun Anne Mayo completed the scoring for the visitors in the 78^th minute as The Stingrays looked to give their title defence some new impetus.
Marconi put in a credible effort but weren?t able to match Illawarra on the day.
MARCONI STALLIONS 0
ILLAWARRA STINGRAYS 3 (M.Carney 20m, C.Cooper 59m, A.Mayo 78m)
Northbridge FC weren?t able to ruin Sydney University?s day but they did at least ensure that the University girls had to work for their win.
Sam Spackman scored for Sydney University in the 12^th minute. Goal scoring magician Jenna Kingsley then pulled a couple of rabbits out of her hat; burying the ball in the back of the net in the 35^th and 39^th minutes.
With a 3-0 half time lead Sydney University looked home and were entitled to take their foot off the accelerator. They went through the motions during the second stanza before Erin Wilson scored the visitor?s fourth goal in the 73^rd minute.
This performance by Sydney University had some similarities to last weekend?s win over Gladesville Ravens. University were never going to lose, looked to be in control for most of the ninety minutes and banked the three points in a tradesmen like manner.
As always Northbridge went down fighting but Sydney University were a bridge too far for the home side.
NORTHBRIDGE FC 0
SYDNEY UNIVERSITY 4 (S.Spackman 12m, J.Kingsley 35/39m, E.Wilson 73m)
Up at Pluim Park Central Coast Mariners Academy?s recent run of form came to an end with a 4-0 loss at the hands of Macarthur Rams.
Renee Rollason scored for The Rams in the fourth minute, effectively putting the home side on the back foot immediately. When ?Deadly? Stephanie Haim added a second Macarthur goal four minutes later things were looking decidedly grim for the Central Coast side.
After such a disastrous start Central Coast may have been excused if they crumbled but they dug in to keep the damage to two goals until the half time whistle shrilled.
In the second half Central Coast clung on for just over twenty minutes before Kylie Ledbrook put away Macarthur?s third goal in the 66^th minute. Claire Walsh was on hand to find the back of the net for The Rams final goal five minutes later.
Macarthur continue to power on towards the finals, certainly looking like one of the leading players in the title race. Central Coast were not disgraced but now face a Tuesday night trip to Sydney to meet Inter Lions at Nineveh Stadium.
CENTRAL COAST MARINERS ACADEMY 0
MACRTHUR RAMS 4 (R.Rollason 4m, S.Haim 8m, K.Ledbrook 66m, C.Walsh 71m)
The form guide appears to have rung true in Round 16 with favoured teams coming away with the competition points. Yes, there are still plenty of games to go but there are only five teams who would appear to have any conceivable chance of playing finals football. It will be an interesting run into the finals to see which of the five become four and who gets their nose in front for the premiership plaque.
See you at a ground next weekend.
-By Ross Anderson