Round 7 Review – PS4 NPL 2 NSW Women’s
We have a new leader at the summit of the PlayStation® 4 National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Women’s after Sutherland came out victorious in their top of the table clash with Inter.
Elsewhere, Sydney Olympic were too powerful for Bankstown, Southern Branch won on the road at Nepean, and Northern Tigers heaped more misery on the Mariners with a clinical performance at Mills Park.
Match of the Round
Sutherland Shire FA vs Inter Lions SC, 3pm Sunday 15th of May at Harrie Denning Centre
Inter started the game off well creating a couple of good chances in the opening minutes. A great switch of play released Sarah Mandile into space down the right hand side and she met the ball first time with an outside of the boot volley on her right foot, unfortunately for Inter the excellent piece of skill didn’t result in a goal as her shot was acrobatically saved by Bianca Alchi in the Sutherland goal. She went full stretch to her right hand side and pushed the ball away from danger.
Sutherland rewarded their goalkeeper’s good work moments later when they took the lead with their first attack of the match. Jessica Ellis was released down their right hand side around half way, using her pace to burn both the right back, and the covering defence of Danielle Watson to reach the by-line. She whipped in a great low cross which was met by Raegan Deeley at the far post, who prodded the ball back across goals as the Inter defence could do nothing as the ball trickled across the line.
Inter were looking to counter attack whenever they could force errors from Sutherland. Sutherland like letting the ball do the work, and can be vulnerable when their full backs push up the park and leave open spaces in behind. Inter were able to break down the right a number of times, but couldn’t create the kind of chances they needed to find an equaliser.
Ellis was proving a real handful on the right wing for Sutherland, and she nearly provided another assist in identical fashion to her first with only a few minutes left in the half. Again she flew down the wing but on this occasion Verity Quartermain couldn’t turn the ball home.
Sutherland began the second half the way they ended the first. They were able to get control of the ball at the back, keep possession, and move Inter around the field as they looked to create a clear cut opening.
Inter though were the first to get close to a chance in the half, but great goalkeeping from Alchi prevented any real danger from accruing. The ball was lofted in from the right, and she came flying off her line to punch the ball away. The punch deflected off a defender, and with Inter players circling, Alchi threw herself on the loose ball and killed off the attack.
Fairly early on in the second half the game became stretched, with both teams struggling to keep up the intensity that defined a lot of the first period. It wasn’t a huge drop off, but the defensive lines on each side were taking a couple of seconds longer to reset and move forward, much to the consternation of the coaching staff.
Because of this fatigue the game descended into a much more physical contest in the middle of the park, with sloppy touches inviting tough challenges – particularly from Inter as they were chasing the game – and a lot more direct passing than you would normally expect from these sides.
Inter finally broke through the Sutherland line after 82 minutes when Mandile was played in down the right, however in a tired attempt at a cross she couldn’t wrap her boot around the ball and it tamely went out for a goal kick.
Sutherland had one final chance to kill off the game with a couple of minutes to go. Quartermain beat Watson in the air, and with Watson prone on the turf she had time to run the ball towards goal but instead chose to shoot immediately. While she struck the shot well she dragged it wide of the near post.
That was that, and Sutherland claimed the points at Harrie Denning in a tight encounter between two very good sides. Despite the lack of goal mouth action both sides did well in terms of stopping their opposition from getting into full flight. The return fixtures over the course of the season will be intriguing encounters to say the least.
Bankstown City FC vs Sydney Olympic FC, 3pm Sunday 15th of May at Jensen Park
Bankstown couldn’t quite keep the quality of Olympic at bay as they went down 3-1 at home. Olympic opened the scoring with a neatly taken goal for Astrid Wiig from a corner in the first half, and took that advantage into the half time break.
Bankstown pushed hard for an equaliser, but Amanda Seskin is a formidable presence in the Olympic goal and she was able to keep Olympic’s lead intact. A lead which would be extended when Wiig capitalised on a gap in the Bankstown defence, before Samantha Muscat pulled one back to keep the home side in the game. Any hope of a comeback was extinguished however when Danielle Calvi converted a spot kick with 8 minutes to play.
A big win for Olympic after a couple of disappointing results in the last few weeks, and a lesson for Bankstown that ruthlessness is a requirement at this level if you’re to really challenge for honours.
Nepean FC vs Southern Branch FC, 3pm Sunday 15th of May at Cook Park
Southern branch have bounced back from last week’s shock loss to the Tigers by defeating Nepean 1-0 at Cook Park. An excellent result all round for Southern as it sees them overtake Nepean and move into the top 4. Southern will be pleased as well to keep a clean sheet after the rather more shoddy defensive display from their last outing.
Nepean had a great opportunity here – especially at home – to give themselves some breathing room from the lower half of the table, but it wasn’t to be in the end. That’s only one win at home this season as well, which they must rectify if they want to have any kind of home ground advantage for the remainder of the year.
Northern Tigers FC VS Central Coast Mariners FC, 2pm, Sunday 15th of May at Mills Park
Bad news again this week for the Mariners as they were swept aside 5-0 by a now free scoring Northern Tigers. That’s ten goals in two games against the Central Coast, a real sign of their clear weaknesses in defence even at this point in the season. A better performance is needed next week, otherwise their season may be totally derailed before the halfway point.
The Tigers won’t really care though, as they’ve now found the goals they’ve been looking for all season. Alycia Macqueen, Ella Gibson, Hannah McNulty, and a brace from Josie Wilson powered the Tigers to their second victory of the season. They started strongly, taking a 3-0 lead into the half time break that they never looked like relinquishing. The Tigers are now a scary proposition in this competition after their last two performances.
Reserve Grade:
Nepean defeated Southern Branch 4-0 thanks to Amanda Barrera-Perez, Britney Pelle, and a double from Erin Connell. Inter defeated Sutherland 4-1 with goals coming from Beth Watling, Alexandra Vousden and Natasha Camporeale, while Maddison Farmer got one back for the home side. Sydney Olympic proved too strong as they claimed three second half goals to run out 3-0 winners over Bankstown. Northern Tigers had the bye.
-By Eamonn Warner, PS4 National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Women’s Reporter
