Womens State League Round 2 Review

The heavens were kind as Sunday brought four exciting games to kick start the year for most of the teams.
Match of the Round – Gladesville Ravens 3 – 0 St George FC
The St George girls travelled to Gladesville on a high after a 7-0 thumping of Parramatta last week where Billy Kirk’s side showed organisation, power and ability to finish, they were confident for this match up.
It was clear from the outset that this was not the same Gladesville side that hailed the field last season. This was a team with renewed determination as they look at making their coaches proud. It was a tussle from the outset as both sides battled for possession and were simply not giving anything away.
First goal came from a penalty given away by St George. As the Raven forward dribbled her way cleverly in the box and was taken down by one of the Saints defenders. Gladesville made no mistake and gained their lead early in the game.
It was clear that momentum was theirs as Gladesville’s new recruits showed that they were up to the task against one of the league’s premier teams. The rest of the first half was littered with duels on all parts of the field and was clear that either team were not going to give an inch of space.
The second half was just as entertaining, the midfield was clearly the battlefield as St George were instructed to press high and put pressure on Gladesville’s back four. Though the Ravens did not succumb to the pressure and were composed as all attacking moves were defused by smart defensive reads.
As the Saints pushed high the Ravens counter attacked brilliantly and soon enough their goal arrived due to a header from a set piece. As the heads of the Saints girls went down, manager Billy Kirk showed no signs of disappointment as he instilled belief in his side.
This short boost of inspiration resulted in a long period of possession in which St George peppered the Gladesville goal but as Kirk says, “it was just one of those days, the ball was just not going to go in the back of the net.”
The game was over when Gladesville’s final goal was recorded through a scramble in the box which effectively ended St George’s day and put the Ravens top of the table.
The Ravens surprised everybody and was clearly the better side, they were a number of notables though their tough number one pulled off a number of crucial saves and put in a great shift for her team. Their physical presence along with their structure was evident as they look to a title-charge this campaign.

Bankstown FC 0 – 4 Nepean
Great start to the season for Nepean as they look to start strong. It is well documented that they wanted to greatly improve on their last campaign and some might have found the task of an away game with the last year’s finalists a daunting one.
Fortunately the Nepean girls had their secret weapon, S. Lagudi.  The first half started off with a bang as Nepean’s midfield surprised many by dominating Bankstown’s spine. There was an air of confidence in Nepean and eventually Lagudi scored two goals to put them up by two.
Nepean controlled the game right through as Lagudi again showed her class through the second half as her influence and runs bamboozled Bankstown’s defence. Though with the skill of the midfield Lagudi finished the game off with two second half goals as Nepean FC nick the three points.

Parramatta Lady Hawks 0 – 8 Southern Districts Emeralds
After last week’s thumping from St George, Parramatta wanted redemption this week and started well the first few minutes. As the game wore on the skill and vigour of the girls from Southern Districts were evident throughout the pitch.
The structure that Southern Districts showed proved the difference as it was clear that these two teams were at two different levels. H. Bowyer, A. Bowyer and N. Portelli scored two each as they toyed with the defenders from Parramatta.
Furthermore Parramatta succumbed to their same issues from last week. There was no communication and their midfield showed no signs of organisation. Unfortunately for them the Emeralds took advantage of that as A. Malovic and A. Danielson took advantage to finish the game with the final score of 8-0.

Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 4 – 1 APIA Leichhardt Tigers
The girls from Mt Druitt were too good for APIA. They were very strong defensively as APIA time and time again tried to look for answers. The Ranger midfield were creative and hungry, they chased down every fifty-fifty which proved to be the difference at the end of the game.
Coach Tarek Madani was clearly disappointed and needs to grow back to the drawing board as the Tigers got dominated in the second half. The game ended at 4-1 as Mt Druitt recorded their first win of the season.