Round 5 Review – State League Women’s
Another round of furious action finished with goals and drama highlighted by our match of the round between UNSW Lions and APIA Leichhardt Tigers.
MATCH OF THE ROUND: UNSW Lions 3 defeated APIA Leichhardt Tigers 1
UNSW Lions completed a second half comeback to wind the Tigers 3-1 and edge themselves into a share of top spot in State League Women’s.
Much like their previous four games, the APIA Leichhardt side started the contest on the front foot with Lucy Gilfedder and Filiz Urkanci pressured the back four.
Urkanci was involved in much of the action early as she worked well with Christina Ferreyra to blast her effort wide of the mark.
Georgia Goulding was a star in the midfield for UNSW Lions and registered their first effort with a stinging shot that Courtney Haplin could only parry but the follow up was wide.
APIA were rewarded for their early dominance in the 20th minute when Urkanci was afforded space to place her effort for a 1-nil lead.
The goal seemed to wake up the sleepwalking Lions who started to get a foot in the contest as Helen Orr snuck behind the defense to push her effort at Haplin.
Goulding started to get more time on the ball, and weaved from her own half past several APIA defenders before she burst into the box. The final product didn’t match the run as it was straight at Haplin.
This pattern continued after the break with UNSW were first to the contested ball which gave their midfield space to feed Rachelle Godman. The striker played the target role and tested Haplin on several occasions.
Despite their dominance UNSW Lions were thwarted constantly and APIA countered well with Gilfedder and Ferreyra. Gilfedder drove into the box before she forced Arianna Maras into a fingertip save.
As the game moved into the final twenty minutes and UNSW coach Renato Jalen preached composure, the home team found the breakthrough.
Godman was found with a lovely center before she took her time to finish in the 73rd minute making it 1-1.
Once the Lions scored once, they were quick to turn it into two and three.
Tireless winger Carol Breemi tore down the wing and left several defenders in her wake to find Godman for her second and send the bench into rapturous celebration.
Midfielder Goulding rounded off her stellar performance with an early goal of the season contender when she dared to chip Haplin from just inside her own half. The keeper could only watch as the ball sailed over her head for a deserved 3-1 lead.
Jalen urged patience until the end and the Lions held firm to see out the last ten minutes to move into a share of top spot.
Afterwards a delighted Renato Jalen praised his Lions efforts.
"I think we deserved it. We dominated for 70% of the game despite conceding the early goal"
"Our idea was to stick to our plan through building from the back towards midfield and then have fast players to finish it off. They are a tough team and It was a good win.
"I took this job to hopefully get UNSW back into PL2 and now we are right in the mix" added Jalen.
APIA coach Matteo Maiorana lamented his squads injuries but didn’t use it as an excuse for the loss.
"We’re finding it hard with numbers currently but it was really a game of two halves. We played well in the first half but fell away"
"Credit to [UNSW] probably the best team we’ve played thus far and deserved winners." Said Maiorana.
MATCH STATS
UNSW Lions 3 (Godman ’73, ’83 and Goulding ’86)
BRUNO Claudia, BREEMI Carol, HEWSON Emily(KARDEL ’91), GOULDING Georgia, ORR Helen, ABEL Danielle, KAVA Lauren Clare, SKEOCH Kelsey, AMBERG Amanda, GODMAN Rachelle(CAILLON ’85) and HELM Donna
Subs not used: MARAS
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 1 (Urkanci ’20)
HALPIN Courtney, GLANVILLE-FYFE Stephanie, SCARLATO Samantha, GILFEDDER Lucy, CANINI Carla, FERREYRA Christina, URKANCI Filiz, BARBI Koo(FRANCIS ’76), SIM-SING Marie, STEVANOVIC Georgia (KING ’73) and CICCO Oliva(MASON ’30)
Yellow card: SCARLATO
Parramatta FC 2 defeated by Gladesville Ravens 8
Noelle Loyzaga starred for Gladesville in a festival of goals at Melita Stadium this afternoon.
The striker bagged four goals in the rout with Isabella Breukelaar chipped in with a brace as the Ravens led 6-1 at the break.
Brownlyn Peddley and Peta Osmond tallied in the second half for the Ravens to complete a turnaround after they were beat 8-2 last weekend.
Parramatta played their role in the festival with Sheldon Brown and Yadira Rengifo scored their two goals.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers 1 defeated by SD Raiders 3
SD Raiders made it a triple threat at the top of the State League Women’s ladder with a tough 3-1 victory over Mt Druitt.
Young winger Rhea D’Mello scored her first for the season to kickstart the Raiders performance as Nicole Monti and Jami-Lee Mussett added the other two.
In a tough and physical contest which saw Sasha Hammoud collect a red. Raiders coach Catherine Cannuli was happy to get out of there with three points.
Western NSW Mariners 2 defeated St George FC 0
Western NSW Mariners secured back-to-back victories taking down the high flying Saints in a engrossing battle.
Both teams threw everything at each other but the Mariners flew into an early lead and were never headed.
Kya Godbier backed up her match winner last weekend with another goal alongside Jessica Salomoni’s first of the season to secure the three points.
St George FC will be disappointed in the loss but coach Carlo Tini will be pleased they still hold a share of fourth place.
-By Justin Davies, State League Women’s reporter
