Women’s State League – Round 16 Review

In an exciting week in the Women’s State League, Sydney Olympic snatched a late win away from home at Bankstown, Mt Druitt held UNSW at home, while Western NSW Mariners kept up their good form with a thumping win over Nepean. 
Match of the Round
Bankstown City Lions 1-2 Sydney Olympic. Jensen Park, 3pm.
In chilly conditions at Jensen Park, Sydney Olympic played the spoiler role perfectly to pinch an important win against Bankstown City. After setting up the first goal, Olympic striker Danielle Calvi stole the show just ten minutes before full time.
The home side started strongest, passing the ball around with their customary swagger. However, despite the early dominance in possession, it was Olympic who looked most threatening in the final third, with Danielle Calvi looking to use her pace to get in behind Banks town’s back four.
The gallery seated in the grandstand were treated to some beautiful passing interchanges down Banks town’s left flank, with Amy Dahdah, Maniso Michael and the elegant fullback Georgina Stylianou combining well early on. On 12 minutes, Liana Babic tried to repeat last week’s heroics with a cracking shot from 25 yards, only to see the ball dip just over the crossbar.
As Bankstown started to settle into their rhythm, they were shocked by a goal against the run of play from Sydney Olympics’ ever-reliable combination of Danielle Calvi and Lisa Mitchell. After failing to clear the defence from a goal kick, Bankstown’s defence was horribly out of shape as Calvi lifted a perfect pass to Mitchell, whose shot looped over the keeper and took a generous bounce into the net.
It might have been a cruel break for Bankstown, but the persistence of Lisa Mitchell had paid off, and the visitors were ahead. 
However, if Olympic fans thought they were in luck, they were soon dealt a heavy blow as Mitchell limped off with a torn hamstring, adding to their already considerable injury list. 
Despite conceding the first goal, Bankstown seemed content to continue their slick passing game, patiently building up from the back and switching the ball from side to side. The focus on possession made for nice viewing, but might have left striker Georgia Klapos a little starved of touches. Still, she was also kept quiet by solid performances from Olympics’ centre backs Kylie Manias and Kate Mitrevski.
As the whistle blew for half time, Sydney Olympic winger Zahrah Shaddad left out a sigh of relief, which summed up her own enormous effort in marking Amy Dahdah, who was causing many headaches down the left flank.
The second half started with a bang from Olympic, as Danielle Calvi carved out to early chances for herself, although she failed to finish both. The game then swung back in Bankstown’s favour, as Maniso Michael, Samantha Muscat and Liana Babic continued to keep the ball moving around the midfield nicely.
As several Olympic players began to cramp up, there was a growing feeling around the ground that it would only be a matter of time before the home side turned their possession into goals.
With fifteen minutes left, the usual suspects stepped up. Having switched from the left wing to the right at the start of the second half, Stylianou and Dahdah played a neat little passage of passes up the right channel, before Dahdah but in a low cross at the near post. True to her nickname, Georgia Klapos stepped up for a Viduka-esque finish at the six yard box, timing her run to perfection before tucking the ball away calmly at the near post.
Frustrated for over an hour, the home crowd leapt to their feet, and Amy Dahdah’s exuberant celebration showed that the players felt the relief as well.
But just as the home side looked as if they would run away with it, Sydney Olympic managed to dig just a little deeper, as Danielle Calvi finished off a swift counter-attacking move just before full time.
Tight games like these usually end up being remembered for the goal scorers. But while Danielle Calvi was certainly the woman of the match, full credit must go to Kylie Manias, who was seemingly everywhere across the defence, and Zahrah Shaddad, who never stopped running or encouraging her teammates.
With Kate Halaska, Kalista Tsoupis and now Lisa Mitchell all walking wounded, Sydney Olympic coach George Beltsos might have an unenviable injury list. However, gutsy performances like these show that the women from Belmore are always a threat, no matter the circumstances.
Elsewhere in the Competition
Two cracking matches at Melita Stadium and Poppondetta Park saw St George draw two all with Parramatta Ladyhawks, while Mt Druitt Town and UNSW shared the spoils in an exciting two all draw. The seesaw battle in Mt Druitt saw the home side come from behind twice to earn the point. The goal of the match went to Brooke Conroy, who set up Rangers’ first goal, and then equalised the match with a cracking strike from 25 yards.
In Nowra, Southern Branch edged out a visiting APIA Leichardt side 2-1, with Ashleigh Clayton and Danielle Wise both on the score sheet for the home side, while Constance Kikitis added a consolation goal for APIA.
A first half Sherie Bryant goal was enough for Southern Districts Emeralds to see off Gladeville Ravens at Ernie Smith Reserve, while Nepean were overrun by Western NSW Mariners at Cook Park in Penrith. The Mariners put four past Nepean, with Gillian Rosconi bagging a double and Teigan Cox and Meaghen Kempson getting one each. 
Reserves
In the reserves there were big wins for Parramatta Ladyhawks, Sydney Olympic and Southern Districts Emeralds, while Western NSW Mariners and Southern Branch defeated Nepean and APIA Leichhardt respectively.