Women’s State League Round 19 Review

Round 19 of the Women’s State League saw the Gladesville Ravens consolidate their place in the top four in this week’s Match of the Round, while Bankstown City FC, Western NSW Mariners FC and the APIA Leichhardt Tigers claimed important wins.

Match of the Round
Gladesville Ravens vs. St. George FC: 3-2
Fourth placed Gladesville Ravens hosted third placed St. George FC this Sunday, proving one of the season’s most entertaining games.
In the first ten minutes, both sides had limited opportunities as they looked to assert dominance over the midfield.
With both sets of defenders well organised, it was unsurprising that the opening goal came in a somewhat unorthodox manner.
Winning a freekick outside of the Saints goalbox, Ravens midfielder Kate Butler-Howell curved a probing ball into the box. St. George keeper Selen Santoro called for the ball and charged forward to claim it, but lost sight of it within the crowd. The cross-turned-shot bounced into the back of the net, giving Gladesville an early lead.
St. George had the opportunity to equalise immediately, with Rachelle Wang played through one-on-one with Lauren Scaramuzza in goal for the Ravens. Scaramuzza charged well outside of her box to pressure the St. George attacker, effectively so, with Wang shanking her shot wide of the mark.
In the thirty third minute, Gladesville added to their lead with a well worked team effort. A lofted through ball from Peta Osmond, perhaps with a touch of luck, found Eleanor Jones on the left wing. Jones’ first touch was superb, taking the ball inside towards Noelle Loyzaga, who slot it calmly past the goalkeeper.
Just over five minutes later, St. George were allowed back into the game through an unfortunate goalkeeping mistake from the Ravens. A rather innocuous shot from outside of the box by Rachelle Wang took an unusually high bounce off the penalty spot, over Scaramuzza who had dropped to the ground, anticipating a lower catch.
For the majority of the first half, Gladesville demonstrated more coherency between their midfield and front three, where St. George looked disjointed. Nevertheless, after Rachelle Wang’s goal, the Ravens seemed rattled and St. George gained a spring in their step.
Gladesville brought their nerves into the second half, where they struggled to hold on to what felt a fragile lead. Superb defending from Ashleigh Smith, supported by Paige Vansaarloos and alert goalkeeping from Scaramuzza held St. George back for the first twenty minutes of the second half.
However, inevitably St. George broke through the Ravens resistance and found an equaliser. Georgia Koinis burst down the right wing and cut a ball back towards the penalty spot. The Ravens defence failed to clear out of the box and Koinis pounced, smashing the ball into the back of the net, marking a remarkable come back from a two goal deficit.
The game, however, did not remain on level terms for very long. Less than five minutes later, the Ravens reclaimed their lead, spurred into action by the spirited St. George revival. Noelle Loyzaga made a powerful run into the box and fired at goal. Her shot was saved, and the rebound bounced back off Loyzaga towards the centre of the goalbox, where Eleanor Jones jumped highest to nod home a winner.
St. George were visibly disappointed, but did not capitulate. Although the Ravens regained confidence, and established a grip on the midfield, the Saints had the best opportunities during the final twenty minutes.
In the eightieth minute, Rachelle Wang wriggled past a defender on the edge of the box and unleashed a driven shot at goal, denied by a superb save from Scaramuzza. Two minutes later, Tijana Ljubisavljevic for St. George delivered an impressive freekick from outside of the box, which rattled off the crossbar.
A second equaliser was not to be found, with Gladesville sitting extremely deep to see out the remainder of the game.

Match Stats
Gladesville Ravens                               3 (Kate Butler Howell 24’, Noelle Loyzaga 33’, Eleanor Jones 77’)
St. George FC                                      2 (Rachelle Wang 39’, Georgia Koinis 74’)
Sunday, 16th of August, 2015
Peel Park, Gladesville
Gladesville Ravens: 16. Isabella Breukelaar, 8. Kate Butler-Howell, 23. Amanda Holmes, 20. Eleanor Jones, 3. Rebecca Kundrat (10. Daniela Fierro 83’), 18. Celeste Loyzaga, 17. Noelle Loyzaga (10. Daniella Fierro 82’), 24. Peta Osmond, 1. Lauren Scaramuzza, 29. Ashleigh Smith, 4. Paige Vansaarloos.
Substitutes Not Used:, 14. Madeleine Paslis, 21. Kasia Glennie, 12. Amy Clarke
Yellow Cards: N/A
Red Cards: N/A
APIA Leichhardt Tigers: ]21. Natalie Bakrdanikoska, 8. Jessica Carosi, 2. Susanne Gallagher, 3. Lauren Gardner, 9. Georgia Koinis, 33. Tijana Ljubisavlijevic, 29. Kylie Marias, 5. Natalie Michos (26. Ashley Miller 73’), 1. Selen Santoro, 35. Rachelle Wang, 12. Bronte Young.
Substitutes Not Used: 25. Rachael Fitzsimmons, 32. Stephanie Lara
Yellow Cards: N/A
Red Cards: N/A

Round Summaries
Southern Districts SFA vs. APIA Leichhardt Tigers: 0-3
APIA Leichhardt maintained their push for the top four and a place in the Finals Series with a rudimentary 3-0 victory over Southern Districts. This result leaves them three points behind the Gladesville Ravens ahead of them in fourth.
Southern Districts will be disappointed to have been shut out at home, as they look to finish the season as strong as possible.

Mt. Druitt Town Rangers FC vs. Bankstown City FC: 0-1
Mt. Druitt’s top four aspirations were delivered a severe blow this weekend, losing out to Bankstown City at Popondetta Park. This result leaves them four points behind the Ravens and a spot in the Finals Series, with only a handful of games to play.
Bankstown City did not have it easy against a determined Mt. Druitt outfit, but will be delighted to have come away with three points, all but confirming a second placed finish for the western Sydney club.

Parramatta FC vs. Western NSW Mariners FC: 1-4
Western NSW take a seven point lead atop the table, with a game in hand, after sweeping away Parramatta FC at Melita Stadium. With one hand on the Premiership, the Mariners are showing no signs of slowing down.
This loss leaves Parramatta FC mathematically out of the Finals, with only pride to play for from here on in. While they will be disappointed with this, there was not much to be done against a relentless Mariners outfit this Sunday.
-by Daniel Palmer, Women’s State League Reporter