Women’s Premier League Round 10 Review
In round 10 of the Womens Premier League competition this weekend, wet weather wreaked havoc as only three of six games were played.
Two of these games were played on synthetic pitches and the other in Illawarra.
Our match of the round takes us to Blacktown Football Park as the Blacktown Spartans take on Sutherland Shire Football Association.
MATCH OF THE ROUND
BLACKTOWN SPARTANS FC 2-1 SUTHERLAND SHARKS FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
In a round plagued by wet weather, the picturesque Blacktown Football Park staged one of only three games played this round. The Blacktown Spartans took on the Sutherland Sharks Football Association. Both teams were looking to bounce back from demoralising defeats last weekend with the Sharks still searching for that elusive first victory of the season.
Blacktown started the better of the two teams applying pressure on the Sharks midfield. This pressure soon payed off with the first real chance of the match turning into a goal.
There were only 11 minutes on the clock when the Spartans took a long throw in from the right. The ball came to Panagiota Petratos who used her body well to shield the bouncing ball for the incoming Logan Garard. Garard’s first attempt cannoned off the bar but fortunately for her the ball came back to her as she made no mistake with the finish.
Tenacious work in midfield from Leila Braimah-Mahamah and Isabella Pacifici constantly had the Sharks on the back foot.
Garard was in a goalscoring mood as she set up a free kick 25 metres out from goal. Her rasping effort pulled out a solid save from Georgia Rowntree as she tipped the ball over the bar.
In the 22nd minute the Sharks first serious foray into Spartans territory turned into a goal. Great control and awareness saw Faith Atkins first hold off one defender then nutmeg another to create enough space for herself on the edge of the area to slot the ball into the bottom right corner of Monique Jackson’s goal.
A mazing run through midfield by Pacifici saw her get fouled in a similar position from the previous free kick. Garard stepped up again and again forced an amazing save from Rowntree who recovered to make a second save.
Rowntree was proving to be a colossal figure for the Spartans as she saved again, this time bottom left, getting down quickly.
With 15 minutes to go it seemed as though the Sharks were slowly getting into a groove. First Atkins combined with Krisitina Glisic down the left allowing Glisic to move into the box. Her shot was skewed wide. Shortly after, Amy Jagelman had a shot, but her dangerous effort didn’t find the back of the net.
Garard was proving to be a headache for the Sharks defence as her quick feet saw her skip passed one defender and shoot, only for her shot to be saved by the safe hands of Rowntree.
Shortly before half time the Sharks had an opportunity to take the lead into the sheds. A dangerously wipped in ball from the right found Glisic on the far post. Her expert inside of the foot lob beat Jackson but unfortunately rebounded against the woodwork and out.
The Spartans came out for the second half on fire and seven minutes in re-took the lead. Great work by Morgan Roberts and Reagan Mitchell saw Mitchell whip in a ball to Petratos who made absolutely no mistake with her finish, slamming the ball into the top left corner of the net.
On 66 minutes Braimah-Mahamah plays in a delightful through ball for Garard who finds herself one on one with Rowntree. Again Rowntree came out on top with a wonderful save.
Garard turned provider this time playing in Roberts who’s effort beat Rowntree but not the left hand upright.
With 20 minutes to go Roberts was in again and looking to settle any dilemmas over the winner. For the umpteenth time Rowntree came to the Sharks rescue with yet another save.
Garard wanted to make sure she had the last laugh of the aftertoon as she twisted and turned on the edge of the area squirming away from her defenders. Unfortunately for her, Rowntree would not be beaten for the rest of the night as again she made another fantastic save.
The Sharks would not just defend and pushing another player forward they decided to push for an equaliser. Unfortunately, this opened them up to counter attacks as Robert’s found herself through on goal. This though, was Rowntree’s day as once again she made another fantastic save with her legs.
The Sharks couldn’t get an equaliser as the Spartans recorded a much needed victory. Special mention must go to Georgia Rowntree who kept the Sharks in the match for the whole 90 minutes with some fantastic goal keeping.
Manly United FC 4-1 Central Coast Mariners Academy
At Cromer Park in the earlier match of the afternoon, Manly United FC made it three victories on the bounce as they accounted for the Central Coast Mariners Academy.
In a quite one sided affair, Manly triumphed 4-1. Chloe O’brien made it three goals in two games for her as she grabbed a brace, along with Kristie Crawford who also got two. For the Mariners, Jayme Fressard grabbed their only goal.
With this win, Manly move into 7th place on the competition ladder while the Central Coast stay in their lowly 10th.
Illawarra Stingrays 2-1 North Sydney Koalas
In the top of the table clash between the Illawarra Stingrays and the North Sydney Koala’s at JJ Kelly Park we saw a real gritty affair. After defeating the undefeated and top of table Macarthur Rams last week, the Stingrays were looking for a similar result to last week as they took on the only undefeated team left in the competition.
The Stingrays came away with a 2-1 victory last week and they mirrored that result against the Koala’s. With that they emerged on top of the Women’s Premier League ladder. The Koala’s dropped down to 3rd.
Michelle Carney continued her goal scoring form grabbing a double for the stingrays while Daila-Tais Borg got one for the Koala’s.
Reserve grade
On Saturday, the FNSW Institute played out an amazing 5-5 draw with the Inter Lions. An almost impossible result for the bottom placed Inter Lions who are yet to taste victory this year.
On Sunday, the Sutherland Sharks Football Association defeated the Blacktown Spartans 2-0 and recorded their first victory of the season after 10 rounds.
Meanwhile, also on Sunday, in a direct battle for finals football, the Illawarra Stingrays went down by the odd goal to the North Sydney Koala’s.
-By Nikola Pozder
