Round 11 Review – PS4 NPL 2 NSW Women’s
It was a weekend of upsets in round 11 of the PlayStation® 4 National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Women’s with a few of the competitions lower ranked teams picking up some very impressive results.
The Mariners finally picked up their first point of the season as they drew with Nepean, Northern Tigers pulled off a great win against Olympic, and the one match going to script was down in Nowra as Inter took care of business against Southern.
The biggest surprise though came in the match of the round as league leaders Sutherland were beaten rather soundly 2-1 by Bankstown City.
Match of the round:
Bankstown City FC vs Sutherland Shire FA, 3pm Sunday June 11th at Jensen Park
Sutherland immediately settled into their usual pattern of possession. They were moving the ball around nicely and probing for an opening in the first 5 minutes, but Bankstown were the ones able to strike immediately.
In their first meaningful possession the home side executed a brilliant counter-attack to take the lead. Tania Baban did well to control a drilled clearance, and she immediately played a one-two with skipper Samantha Muscat, whose through ball was inch perfect for the on rushing Baban as she poked the ball home from the edge of the box around advancing Sutherland ‘keeper Bianca Alchi.
It was the start of a pattern for Bankstown, as they would continually look to break forward at pace whenever they could win the ball in midfield. There were several occasions throughout the first half where the last touch just didn’t find the mark for the home side; otherwise they may have notched up a couple more goals in the first half.
Sutherland looked a little shaken by the goal and couldn’t’ really settle. A significant break in play from a head clash between Allegra Vickas and Genevieve Nisbet – Vickas required significant bandaging to a head wound – gave the league leaders the chance to regroup, and they looked far better after the break in play as they started to pin Bankstown a little deeper into their own half.
Bankstown nearly extended their lead soon through a free kick from Yasemin Genc. From a very tight angle she went directly for goal and it just cleared the cross bar, and Alchi would have been in huge trouble if Genc had been able to get the shot on target.
Sutherland continued to press though, and their effort nearly paid dividends on multiple occasions just before half time. Jessica Ellis had the first chance after she flicked a snapshot over the crossbar from a few yards out, but the better of the two fell to Verity Quartermain. Unmarked 7 yards out, she was picked out beautifully by a cross from Toni Vukasin, and despite getting good contact on the header she placed it straight into the arms of Lana Ferreira.
Sutherland started the second half brightly once more, with Ellis proving a real handful down the right hand side for the Bankstown defence.
But once again the first great chance of the half would fall the way of the home side.
A poor touch at the back from Kellie Mutch gave Baban a chance to pinch the ball on the edge of the 18. She stole in but once she had possession looked caught in two minds, either shooting herself or squaring it for Muscat. In the end she poked the ball between both options and the chance was lost.
The game got rather fiery for the next 15 as both sides dove into tackles and had a few words to say to the referee as well which resulted in a small flurry of cards.
Muscat nearly extended the lead but she was denied 1 v 1 by a fine save from Alchi, who made herself big and smothered the finish.
Muscat would get her goal soon after though. Bankstown had been winning the second ball for most of the half, and a successful challenge near the box played in the right winger, and with Sutherland scrambling to reset she quickly squared the ball to Muscat who tapped home from 4 yards out to double the advantage for the home side.
Bankstown were ecstatic with the second goal, and looked to have decided that now was the time to hold onto the lead as they sat deeper for the last 20 minutes to hold onto their advantage.
Sutherland were pushing as they continually tried to play through, but it was clear they were tiring as more and more long balls were sneaking into their game.
They had a great claim for a penalty in the 90th minute as Ellis was brought down in the box by two Bankstown defenders as she burst through, only for the referee to say the foul began outside the box, awarding a free kick.
It may as well have been a penalty though as Quartermain stepped up and placed it across Ferreira to make it 2-1. The ‘keeper hedged her bets and shifted left towards the side her wall was protecting just as Quartermain struck it, but the striker went to the ‘keeper’s right and the ball nestled into the bottom corner.
That was the last chance of the match however, as Bankstown recorded one of the upsets of the season defeating the league leaders and competition favourites 2-1 here at Jensen Park.
Northern Tigers FC vs Sydney Olympic FC, 3pm Sunday June 11th at Valentine Sports Park
The Tigers were another side to pull off an upset this weekend as they defeated Sydney Olympic 2-0 at Valentine. Elinor Rothie Clark got on the scoresheet to help her side establish a 2-0 advantage before the main break, and the Tigers never looked back as they held on for the win. An excellent result for the Tigers after the last couple of matches, and that should give them a boost over the coming weeks. Olympic are a dangerous side, and all the Tigers need is a little bit of self-belief and they should start moving up the table and putting pressure on the teams above them.
A tough result for Olympic to take, especially knowing now that a win could have put them level on points with Sutherland. Olympic are where they are on the table for a reason though, so they should bounce back from this result soon enough.
Nepean FC vs Central Coast Mariners FC, 6.30pm Saturday June 11th at Cook Park
Finally the Mariners are off the mark after they fought out a 0-0 draw with Nepean out in Sydney’s west. It’s a base for them to build on now, as just avoiding yet another loss can be a huge tonic for a side that’s been struggling to get it done for so many weeks. The defence has been their biggest issue so far, so it’s a positive sign that they held together to keep a hold of that elusive first clean sheet of the season.
Nepean have been finding it difficult to hit the back of the net over the past few weeks, but they’ll still be bitterly disappointed to miss out on the 3 points here against Central Coast. Luckily for Nepean they meet again on Monday, so you’d expect a significant reaction from a team such as them. Anything less than a win will feel like a massive opportunity lost over this weekend.
Southern Branch FA vs Inter Lions SC, 3pm Sunday June 11th at South Nowra Football Complex
In the one result to go to form this weekend, Inter have defeated Southern 3-1 to go equal top of the table. Inter have shown themselves to be fairly ruthless so far this season, and so it was the case here. The prolific Sarah Mandile added another 2 goals to her tally for the season, while Rhonda Succar continued her impressive form over recent weeks to also hit the target. Inter have added the consistency needed to be real challengers this season and they’ve set themselves up well for the run home.
Southern haven’t been able to put any results together so far this year, and another loss here puts them in a difficult position if they want to make a run for the finals. They aren’t too far off from making a run, but getting across the line is proving a bridge too far for them at the moment.
Reserve Grade:
Bankstown City overcame Sutherland Shire 2-1, Inter put Southern to the sword in a 4-0 romp, and the Tigers and Olympic played out a 0-0 draw. Nepean had the bye this week.
By Eamonn Warner, PS4 National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Women’s Reporter
