Football NSW Women’s State League Round 2 Review
Thankfully evading the rain, this weekend’s Football NSW Women’s State League picked up where it left off, with another high-scoring round of entertaining football.
MATCH OF THE WEEK – Western NSW Mariners FC vs APIA Leichhardt Tigers: 6-0
After a few days of rain, this weekend’s clash against the Western NSW Mariners and APIA Leichardt Tigers was fortunately able to continue, and would prove a huge ninety minutes for the home side.
The Mariners came into the clash after a tight 2-1 victory over Bankstown City in round one, while the Tigers were looking to fight back after a big 4-0 defeat to St. George FC.
The game began tentatively, with neither sides wanting to make mistakes. The Mariners looked comfortable and collected in possession, bringing the ball out of defence into the midfield smoothly before attempting to pry open chances in the final third. Nevertheless, they continued to give the ball away too easily in attack, unable to find a critical pass through the lines. The first half hour of play by the Mariners was marred by a lack of patience in their opponent’s half.
However, after a valiant start to the half from the Tigers in holding them back, the Mariners were able to finally pull ahead just before half time. Meg Embleton broke through and found the back of the net, leading her team into the change rooms at the break with a one goal advantage. Things didn’t appear over at all for the Tigers, but they would have to deliver something different going forward.
Unfortunately for APIA Leichhardt, this was not to be the case. The Western NSW coaching staff must have delivered a rousing speech at half-time, for the Mariners came out looking reinvigorated. Over the next forty five minutes, they scored five unanswered goals: Teegan Courtney scored two from holding midfield, Jess Salamoni added another two goals to her tally (having done the same last week), while Kristy Collingridge scored her first for the season.
Teegan Courtney was a standout in the middle of the park, dictating the pace of play, distributing sharply and scoring twice. Meanwhile, Meg McFarland also impressed at centre-back, marshalling the back four to an important clean sheet. It was a thoroughly dominant performance from the Mariners who pushed forward relentlessly.
APIA Leichhardt will have a lot to think about over the next seven days, having lost their opening two games by considerable margins – yet to register a goal. The club will be eager not to replicate their poor performance in 2014, but will need to change things around to do so, lacking cohesion across the field.
Meanwhile, the Western NSW Mariners now sit on atop the table with six points from a possible six; ahead of the Gladesville Ravens on goal difference.
Match Stats
Western NSW Mariners FC 6 (Embleton / Salamoni x 2 / Courtney x 2 / Collingridge)
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 0
Sunday, 19th of April, 2015
Rangers Park, Lithgow
Western NSW Mariners: 3. M. McFarland, 6. T. Courtney, 9. K. Collingridge, 10. M.. Embleton, 4. A. Meadley, 2. K. Pakai-Kelley, 15. C.Anlezark, 8. T.Lloyd, 1. J. Daymond, 11. K. Gobdier.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
APIA Leichhardt Tigers: 13. L. Friend, 4. K. Barbi, 24. L. Savvidis, 11. D. King, 9. A. Francis, 22. T. Bene, 21. A. Rushmer, 17. C. Ercil, 5. L. Gilfedder, 19. K. Thomson, 2. S. Glanville-Fyfe.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Round 2 Summaries
Bankstown City FC vs Parramatta FC: 4-1
Bankstown City were disappointed with their narrow round one loss to the WNSW Mariners and were keen on making a strong statement in their first home game of the year. That is exactly what they did, outclassing Parramatta FC in resounding fashion to take their first three points of the season.
Parramatta will not be overly concerned bout the result, describing their opposition as “vastly more experienced, structured and established”. In their first season in the league, these are the sort of experiences which they will be looking to learn from.
Mt. Druitt Town Rangers FC vs St. George FC: 3-2
This fixture promised to be an exciting one, with both teams looking to play attacking football. Mt. Druitt suffered a round one loss to the Gladesville Ravens, but were relishing the opportunity to play at home. Meanwhile, St. George came into the fixture on top of the table after sweeping away APIA Leichhardt 4-0.
Things began perfectly for the visitors, with Mary Harding smashing home a goal from long range. However, centre-back Taryn Rockall quickly responded for Mt. Druitt from a corner to level things up. Shortly before half-time, Ashleigh Jones beat St. George’s offside trap and put the Rangers ahead 2-1. Midway through the second-half, Nubia Lopez sealed the three points, scoring the Rangers’ third goal. A late consolation from Rachelle Wang was not enough for St. George.
Southern District Emeralds vs Gladesville Ravens: 1-2
The Emeralds came into the weekend determined to bounce back from their opening round defeat to Parramatta FC, while the Ravens looked to make it two from two in Women’s State League action this season.
The three points went by way of the Ravens, who were able to edge the home team by a single goal in what was a tightly fought encounter. The Emeralds have now suffered two extremely narrow losses to start off the 2015 season, and will feel hard done by. The Ravens, however, have continued to show great fight and have established themselves as strong title contenders in these early stages of the season.
-by Daniel Palmer, Women’s State League Reporter
