Sydney University clinch Preseason Cup in thriller
The trophy cabinet at Sydney University SFC continues to pile up with 2017 starting off on the right foot as Heather Garriock’s side took out their second straight PlayStation 4 NPL NSW Women’s Preseason Cup with an extraordinary come from behind 4-3 victory at Blacktown Football Park against a well-oiled Football NSW Institute on Sunday.
Craig Foster’s young Institute side let a three-goal lead slip midway through the second half before Uni put their foot down on the accelerator and showed its class with a herculean effort giving them the first spoils of the season.
Emma Stanbury was the star of the show grabbing a hat-trick for Uni with new signing Nickoletta Flannery getting the other.
The first chance of the game fell the way of Uni with Georgia Yeoman-Dale unable to beat Institute star keeper Jada Mathyssen-Whyman.
Georgia Plessas was next to try her luck but again Mathyssen-Whyman held her shot well.
Julia Vignes then broke into the Uni box only for a fantastic last-ditch tackle to block the shot.
Charlotte Mclean then had a speculative effort for the Institute but it went just wide.
A quite period was broken up with a powerful effort by Flannery, only for her shot to fly just over the bar.
In the final minute of normal time, Princess Ibini-Isei showed her class, beating two defenders and blasting toward goal but her shot didn’t trouble Boric.
A mix up in the back though allowed Ibini-Isei to steal in from the resulting goal kick and find the back of the net.
Rachel Lowe had had the first chance of the second period but her lob just went wide of the post.
The Institute doubled their lead on 57 minutes through Lowe after she capped off a fantastic move.
On 65 minutes it was 3-0 and the Institute were cruising.
Vignes found Susan Phonsongkham in the box and she made no mistake, hitting the back of the net from a few yards out.
It was end to end action and only a minute later Uni were awarded a penalty for a foul on Stanbury.
Stanbury dusted herself off to take the spot kick and sent Mathyssen-Whyman the wrong way.
In the 69th minute, Uni cut the lead to 3-2 and it was game on.
A cross in from the left wasn’t dealt with by the Institute defence as the ball fell to Stanbury who buried her shot.
Yeoman-Dale should’ve had Uni level in the 85th minute but her effort went straight at Mathyssen-Whyman.
Less than 30 seconds later, Yeoman-Dale made a great run down the right, crossing into the box and allowing Flannery to stab a remarkable equaliser home.
Unbelievably, in the 89th minute, Uni made it 4-3 and all but sealed their first Cup for 2017.
Some fantastic work by Stanbury again on the edge of the area saw her make some space and blast the ball home from the edge of the area for her hat-trick.
The Institute had no more time as the match went the way of University causing jubiliant scenes from the Uni squad when the final whistle went.
The PS4 NPL NSW Women’s competition commences on Sunday 2nd of April with some great first round matches.
Charles Bean Sportsground will see the new girls on the block Northern Tigers entertain the Blacktown Spartans, JJ Kelly Park will play host to the Illawarra Stingrays taking on Sydney University. Lake Macquarie Regional Facility will feature the Emerging Jets clash with the Football NSW Institute, Macarthur Rams face Manly United at Lynwood Park while Northbridge Oval will see the North Shore Mariners take on the North West Sydney Womens Koalas.
The coverage kicks off this Thursday as Football NSW’s Facebook LIVE show, commencing at 6pm, will feature two stars of the female game with Sydney University’s Evelyn Chronis and North West Sydney Womens Koalas’ Nat Tobin in the studio talking about their up and coming year amongst a whole host of other topics – Don’t miss this and be sure to log onto the PS4 NPL NSW Facebook page on Thursday at 6pm to view the special feature.
Match Stats
Sydney University SFC 4 (Stanbury 66’p, 69’, 89’, Flannery 86’)
Football NSW Institute 3 (Ibini-Isei 45’, Lowe 57’, Phonsongkham 65’)
Sunday March 26, 2017
Blacktown Football Park
Sydney University SFC: 1. Boric, 4. O’Reilly, 6. Danaskos, 7. Yeoman-Dale, 11. Ambrose, 13. Plessas, 14. Fletcher, 15. Flannery, 18. Stanbury, 20. Wheeler, 33. Allen.
Substitutes: 5. King, 8. Chronis, 9. Grey, 38. Gordon, 41. Magus.
Football NSW Institute: 1. Mathysen-Whyman, 6. Gomez, 9. Hristodoulou, 13. Johnson, 14. Lowe, 15. Mclean21. Nevin, 22. Phonsongkham, 24. Rose, 25. Sayer, 27. Vignes.
Substitutes: 7. Greenwood, 8. Hawkesbury, 10. Ibini-Isei, 12. Johns, 30. Newbon.
-By Nikola Pozder
