State League Women’s – Round 1 Review
The 2017 State League Women’s kicked off in style as Football NSW attended the Match of the Round clash at St George Stadium which saw hosts St George FC do battle with the SD Raiders while the Western NSW Mariners v APIA Leichhardt Tigers clash was the other game that took shape on Sunday.
Match of the Round
St George FC vs SD Raiders FC, 3pm Sunday April 2nd at St George Stadium
The match of the round for the Women’s State League Round 1 matched up last year’s champions SD Raiders FC against a young St George FC outfit who were looking to improve on last year’s disappointing showing.
With the weather playing havoc both teams took a while to settle as the lack of pre-season games affected the ability of both teams to string passes together and dominate possession. SD Raiders FC showed the greater threat going forward early on as they looked to press St George FC into mistakes.
The first real attacking chance fell to SD Raiders FC as a great fingertip save from St George FC keeper Luisa Marzotto denied Courtney Krope as she cut in from the left and unleashed a fierce drive.
SD Raiders FC began to assert their dominance as another great save from Luisa Marzotta a couple of minutes later denied Dominique Caridad before the St George FC keeper came up big again to smother Nicole Monti after a great cut back from right winger Caterina Moio.
As the half dragged it only seemed like a matter of when not if SD Raiders FC would score and it duly arrived half an hour in as a magnificent through ball with the outside of the foot from Courtney Krope released winger Nicole Monti who latched onto the ball and finished expertly into the bottom corner.
In truth it was no more than SD Raiders FC deserved as St George FC struggled to present any real threat besides the occasional counter attack.
St George FC’s best moment of the game did arrive just before half time though as a great spilt ball by Antonia Sarikakis sent Amy Bennett through on a goal but a great low save by SD Raiders FC keeper Rhianna Muscat who up to this point had been relatively quiet made sure the score stayed 1-0.
St George began to assert themselves more on the contest as the half drew to a close but the last chance of the half fell to SD Raiders FC as Caterina Moio who had been a constant threat to the St George FC back 4 all half hit a rasping rive from the corner of the 18-yard box which was magnificently tipped over.
St George FC began the second half trying to press on and reduce the space for SD Raiders FC to play out of.
It nearly payed dividends early in the second half as SD Raiders FC coughed up the ball attempting to play out but the resulting shot went straight down SD Raiders FC keeper Rhianna Muscat’s throat.
St George FC though did find an equaliser against the run of play as a shove in the box lead to Lauren Gardner slotting home the penalty.
The game began to be stretched as the fitness levels of both teams were tested.
Posts at either ends were hit as firstly SD Raiders FC halftime substitute Doveinah Vine saw her shot come back off the post after some slick build up work and cut back from Nicole Monti.
St George FC then were unfortunate to not hit the lead as a corner lead to the dangerous Antonia Sarikakis volleying her attempt against the crossbar. SD Raiders FC then should have made it 2-1 in the 60th minute as Vine turned superbly on the edge of the box to only slide her shot wide of the far post.
As the game entered the last 20 minutes both teams pressed for the lead but in the 73rd minute SD Raiders FC regained the lead after a magnificent through ball released Nicole Monti who ran onto it and slotted beyond Luisa Marzotta in goals to put SD Raiders FC up 2-1.
Barely two minutes later though St George FC answered back as Amy Bennett got in behind her defender and finished with aplomb in the bottom corner to draw the scores back level.
SD Raiders FC though would grab a winner as Vine who had a real impact from the bench was clipped in the box and a penalty was awarded.
Dominique Caridad smashed the penalty in to put Raiders up 3-2 and that is how it remained throughout the last 10 minutes as the Raiders even missed another penalty to miss the chance to extend the lead to 4-2.
Overall both teams suffered from a disrupted pre-season especially as the second half went on but certainly lots of positives for both teams to build their seasons on.
SD Raiders FC coach Catherine Cannuli was pleased with her team’s overall effort and ability to grind out a tough win against a determined St George FC outfit and overall.
“I thought we dominated the game”.
St George FC coach Carlo Tini will take many positives from his team’s performance as they were more than competitive against last year’s champions and can certainly build on this as they go further into the year.
Match Stats
St George FC 2 (Lauren Gardner 50’, Amy Bennett 75’)
SD Raiders FC 3(Nicole Monti 30’/73, Dominique Caridad 78’)
Sunday 2nd of April, 2017
St George Stadium
St George FC: 6.Amy Bennett, 13. Isabel Genia Furlong, 3. Lauren Gardner, 23. Peta Koinis ( 21.Monica Bomze 70’), 1. Luisa Marzotto, 26. Ashley Miller, 9. Marissa Nicopoulos, 4. Antonia Sarikakis, 12. Paloma Shrestha (16.Lucas Isabella 84’), 7. Carla Smith, 10. Vanessa Stanton, 5. Theoni Thimakis
Substitutes Not Used: 2. Serena Bomze
Yellow Cards: 10. Vanessa Stanton 86’
SD Raiders FC: 13. Catherine Cannuli, 10. Dominique Caridad, 22. Stephanie Berijerie Conejeros (18.D Vine 45’), 4. Rhea D’Mello, 14. Brooke Hankin, 26. Natalia Ignjatovic, 15. Courtney Krope, 11. Caterina Moio, 5. Nicole Monti, 1. Rhianna Muscat, 7. Jamie-Lee Mussett
Substitutes Not Used: 16. N Richa, 23. S Kontogiorgis, 33. H Ngauoua
Western NSW Mariners FC vs APIA Leichardt Tigers FC, 3pm Sunday April 2nd at Proctor Park, 2-2
In another highly anticipated match up the defending premiers APIA Leichardt Tigers FC made the long trip out to face the Western NSW Mariners FC.
The Mariners began the brighter and took a deserved lead through a thunderous header by new recruit Jasmin Courtenay after 15minutes as the Mariners took a 1-0 lead into half-time.
The second half though was a different story as the Mariners seemingly lost their way as APIA began to boss the contest and soon found themselves 2-1 up courtesy of last year’s golden boot winner Christy Ferreyra who equalised from close range before Aside Latham gave APIA the lead from the penalty spot.
Western NSW Mariners though fought gallantly and found an equaliser with 15minutes to go after a mix up in the APIA defence which allowed Abbey Barcham to level the scores 2-2.
The Western NSW Mariners FC had to play through some nervy moments at the end as Lauren Stein was given her marching orders after 2 yellows they held on though for a well fought draw.
APIA coach Matteo Maiorana was happy overall with the performance.
“I was really pleased with our performance, considering we were missing a few key players the girls responded and played well.”
Western NSW Mariners FC coach Jason Payne was also content with the point considering the disrupted pre-season the Mariners have experienced.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC vs UNSW FC, 5pm Sunday April 2nd at Popondetta Park (washed out)
-By Sebastian Kalos
