Round 12 Review – PS4 NPL 2 NSW Women’s
Housekeeping to begin with as we recount Thursday night’s catch up fixture between Bankstown and the Northern Tigers.
Round 10 – Bankstown City FC vs Northern Tigers FC, 8.30pm Thursday June 16th at Jensen Park
The Tigers made light work of Bankstown on Thursday night as they ran out 4-1 winners. A comprehensive victory, and one of the best of the season for the away side as they showed once again they have no problems scoring goals. The Tigers are now well ahead of their nearest rival in terms of goals scored, and clearly are a side to be wary of in the final third. Elinor Rothie Clark got on the scoresheet once again, while a strike from Emma Watkins and a brace from Josie Wilson rounded off the scoring.
A shame for Bankstown that they couldn’t back up last weekend’s excellent result with another strong performance at home. They showed great signs of defensive stability in previous games, but bringing that every single week is something that may just be beyond them at this point in their development. Samantha Muscat found the back of the net for the home side, but it wasn’t enough to hold back the Tigers.
Round 12 of the Playstation® 4 National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Women’s 2016 again saw the weather play a dominant role in the weekend, although at least this time it wasn’t enough to wash out an entire round.
Down on the south coast, Sydney Olympic were too strong for an improved Southern Branch. While in Sutherland, the Northern Tigers continued the slump of the league leaders by holding them to a share of the points.
The match of the round saw Inter defeat Nepean 1-0 at Fraser Park in a match where the weather tried its very best to end the game early.
Match of the round:
Inter Lions SC vs Nepean FC, 3pm Sunday June 19th at Fraser Park
Inter opened the scoring after only a couple of minutes thanks to the relentless pressure from key forward Sarah Mandile.
Nepean defender Paige Wilson collected the ball in her own box, and with no options she should have cleared the ball away from danger. Instead she turned towards her own goal which invited the pressure from Mandile. In the end, Inter winger Erica Toscano swooped in and snatched the ball from Wilson on the edge of the 6 yard box before she smashed the ball home. Nepean half-heartedly pleaded for a foul on Wilson in the build-up, but it was really poor play in the end, especially when you factor in the wet and slippery conditions.
Despite the synthetic surface allowing the game to go ahead, the conditions were tricky right from the outset for both sides. A couple of sections of the pitch were starting to show a little surface water, and the ball was slowing up considerably even during the reserves game beforehand.
To be fair though, this was like playing on a carpet compared to the final stages of the match.
Nepean was coping better with at this stage though, and they were still trying to play through the middle of the park and pass through Inter. They strung together a couple of good sequences, but then in the final third they’d get bogged down – literally and figuratively – as Inter and the surface would conspire against them.
Inter were getting tremendous joy down their right wing through the tricky Rhonda Succar. She was easily the best player on the pitch in the first half, providing a constant danger for Nepean, and she was unlucky to not be rewarded for her excellent play.
A little niggle had been present for the whole half, with Nepean midfielder Jessica Elliot usually in the middle of it. Her usual uncompromising challenges seemed to have a little more behind them here, maybe because Inter relish that physical contest more than other teams.
The first card of the game came after Elliot rode a couple of tackles and was then hacked down by Inter defender Natalie Difrancesco. These two had a running battle in the second half as well, with the referee needing to pull both of them aside once or twice.
Paige Wilson was able to somewhat make up for her earlier mistake with a goal line clearance to deny Mandile her second of the game. Mandile was played in by Toscano, and she touched the ball easily around Danielle Bartels in the Nepean goal, but from a tough angle she couldn’t quite get enough on the finish. Wilson was able to rush in and clear the ball away from danger to keep her team in the game before half time.
Nepean suffered a huge blow in the opening minutes of the second half, with skipper Desiree Vassallo limping off injured. She’d been hobbling around towards the end of the first half, but it was clear she was in a lot of discomfort as she left the field.
Nepean’s best chance of the game would arrive 15 minutes into the second half courtesy of an Elliot free kick. The Nepean midfielder shot from 35 yards, hammering the crossbar, before the ball fell straight into the path of striker Adele Granata. The Nepean striker had a good run at the ball before meeting it with her head, but she placed it right into the waiting arms of Natasha Pentecost in the Inter goal.
This was the last decent chance of the match before conditions made proper football almost impossible.
The rain started bucketing down – it had been merely steady up until this point – and the small puddles that had already formed from earlier in the day grew at a steady rate. Before long, huge swathes of the surface were unplayable as the ball would consistently stop a few yards after it was kicked.
Both sides tried in vain to keep some semblance of structure and organisation, but as Nepean and Inter are not professional water polo teams, it became clear that things would only deteriorate as the rain continued to tumble down.
Then it got heavier.
Nepean’s entire defensive half was under water at this stage, with one particularly illustrative sequence seeing Wilson attempt to dribble (drag the ball with her foot) out of her own half, get fed up at her lack of progress, and attempt to punt it clear in frustration. As she hit it, the ball got caught in the surface and moved about half a foot.
Tackles began to fly in as well, without a lot of control from either side because of the conditions. Thankfully the full time whistle blew soon after, and both sides got off the field unscathed.
A rather farcical final 15 minutes was an unfair way to end the match as Inter and Nepean both showed good signs early before the conditions took their toll. Inter once again though just know how to get it done and get away with the three points.
Southern Branch FA vs Sydney Olympic FC, 3pm Sunday June 19th at South Nowra Football Complex
Southern Branch couldn’t turn an excellent performance into a win, as they went down 2-1 to Olympic at home. Southern played some high quality football at times, and going into half time at 0-0 were in with a shot of causing an upset here, but Olympic have too much firepower and two second half goals to the away side cancelled out Amanda Carney’s strike for Southern. A good step for Southern, and if they can keep putting in these kinds of performances the points are surely just around the corner.
Olympic will be very happy with the win in this one, especially as it sees them gain ground on Sutherland in second spot. They’ve folded once or twice when presented with a difficult opponent this season, so if they can start picking up points when they’re up against it they’ll be in a great position to have a real tilt at the title come the end of the season.
Sutherland Shire FA vs Northern Tigers FC, 3pm Sunday June 19th at Harrie Denning Centre
The mini resurgence continues for the Tigers after they held Sutherland to a 1-1 draw at Harrie Denning. Hannah Mcnulty got on the scoresheet for the away side, in a sign that the Tigers are really sharing the goals around this season. For a side putting so many into the back of the net, it’s speaks volumes of their style that they aren’t overly reliant on one or two individuals to get the job done every week.
Another little stutter from Sutherland has let Inter climb back to the top of the table, and with how tight it is at the summit they’ll need to get back to winning ways quickly. Positives for the home side can be found in Rochelle Borromeo getting a goal in her first game back for a few weeks. If they can slot her back into their front line week in week out, they may be able to kill off games a little earlier and get the rewards for a lot of their good football.
Central Coast Mariners FC vs Bankstown City FC, 2.05pm Sunday June 19th at Pluim Park NO.3
Unfortunately, Sydney’s inclement weather conspired to wash out the match between Central Coast and Bankstown. Bankstown may be grateful for the rest after Thursday night, but the prospect of another midweek match won’t be an inviting one for them.
Reserve Grade:
Nepean scored late to defeat Inter 2-1, Sutherland were held to a 1-1 draw by the Tigers, while Southern Branch and Sydney Olympic played out a 2-2 draw down south. Bankstown City had the bye.
By Eamonn Warner, PS4 National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Women’s Reporter
