Round 10 Review – PS4 NPL 2 NSW Women’s
It was a weekend filled with goals and ferocious action which heated up a cold weekend in New South Wales.
It was highlighted by the late drama in our Match of the Round between Nepean FC and Bankstown City Lions.
Match of the Round: Nepean FC 1 defeated by Bankstown City FC 2
Alicia Lee broke the hearts of Nepean FC deep in injury time with her winner for Bankstown City Lions to secure a tense 2-1 victory on a cool night at Cook Park.
Bankstown City Lions dominated the contest and scored early but Nepean FC thought they had clawed back a point thanks to a Jessica Elliot free-kick.
Substitute Alicia Lee popped up in the 92nd minute to deny them any points.
It was clear from the onset that Lions coach Troy Spink had the side primed to erase the 2-1 defeat at home back in round one as they pressed the usually solid Nepean FC backline.
Joanna Martino validated the game-plan from Spink as she found herself some space on the edge of the box and swerved a violent shot past Danielle Bartels for a 1-nil Bankstown City Lions lead.
The visitors continued to dominate the run of play and Samantha Muscat almost finished off a well worked Lions movement in the 26th minute but shot high.
It was Muscat again in the 33rd minute from a nice angled ball that left her one-on-one with Bartels but the keeper came out trumps as she blocked the shot well.
Nepean FC were on the backfoot for the majority of the first half but as a midfield clearance fell to Britney Pelle the winger strode close to the box before putting a tame effort at the Lions keeper.
Martino had a chance to score her second just before half-time as she turned well in the box and forced Bartels into a highlight reel save to keep it at 1-nil going into the break.
The pattern of the contest continued in the opening portion of the second half, as Baban shot high four minutes after the resumption then 11 minutes later rolled into the box but couldn’t create an effort.
Baban and Muscat combined well in the 64th minute as the latter tried to unleash a shot but was denied by an impressive last ditch tackle from Danielle Vassallo to make the margin at one.
Eventually Nepean FC would find their way back into the contest not long before injury time. A foul right at the edge of box was in prime Jessica Elliott territory and she duly fired an effort into the net for 1-1.
As the injury time mounted due to injuries sustained – it looked like the game would drift towards a draw until Baban muscled her way past defenders before she set up Alicia Lee for the dramatic winner.
Afterwards Troy Spink was pleased to finally have got one over Nepean FC.
"This was a personal victory for me. I had never beaten Nepean FC until tonight and I thought we dominated the contest and had the best of the chances,’ he said.
"Three points away against Nepean FC is an impressive result. They have beaten everyone else in the top four so I am so happy with the performance." Spink finished.
For the Nepean FC coach he was deflated to lose in those circumstances.
"Hurts doesn’t it? The girls worked hard but we expect that against Bankstown. One lapse at the end of the game when the girls thought the game was done. It hurts you at this level. Bankstown dominated the contest though and we chased the whole game." He finished.
Match Stats
Sunday 18th June 2017
Cook Park
Referee: Robert Young
Assistant Referees: Anita Lopez and Isabella Lopez
Nepean FC 1 (Elliot ’89)
Bankstown City Lions 2 (Martino ‘6 and Lee ’92)
Nepean FC: 1. BARTELS Danielle, 2. JACKSON Emma 4. ELLIOT Jessica, 5. WHEATLEY Ellen, 6. BALLARD Monique(WHEELER ’65), 11. STEDMAN Madeline, 12. WADDELL Alix(AXISA ’57), 13. VASSALLO Desiree, 14. CONNELL Lauren(HAARING ’77), 19. PELLE Britney(GALAYINI ’57) and 25. DAVIDSON Aisling
Subs not used: 20. MALAS Narmin
Yellow cards: nil
Red cards: nil
Bankstown City Lions: 2. BABAN Tania 4. BABIC Liana 10. MICHEAL Maniso, 11. MARTINO Joanna, 14. PETKOVIC Jelena, 17. MURPHY Caitlin, 18. OSMAN Doris(LEE ’86), 19. KRSTANOVSKA Renee, 21. MUSCAT Samantha(LUCIEN ’80), 30. IBBOTSON Charlotte and 57. VICKAS Allegra
Subs not used: 13. OPUKO-AGYEMANG Vida, 20. SAADE Sihaem and 36. WOJTOWICZ Kasia
Yellow cards: Baban
Red cards: nil
Inter Lions 0 defeated by Sydney Olympic 3
Sydney Olympic FC continued their momentum with a thorough 3-nil victory over Inter Lions Sunday afternoon at Concord Oval.
The visitors got off to a hot start as Danielle Calvi fired her fifth goal of the season added with Teome Matamua’s first of the season handed them a 2-nil half-time lead.
Kalista Tsoupis got a third after the break to confirm the dominant victory for Sydney Olympic FC which would have pleased coach George Beltsos and keeps them well placed in the top four.
Southern Branch FC 3 drew with Marconi Stallions 3
Southern Branch FC have earnt a reputation for being a hard team to overcome which continued with a thrilling 3-3 draw against Marconi Stallions this afternoon.
It was hard to separate the two sides across the whole contest as Lexi Carter and Kate Hensman’s goals cancelled each other out to make it 1-1 at the break.
The second half was a whirlwind of action – with four goals including two precise headers from Rihanna Brown to round out the scorers for Southern Branch FC.
Marconi showed good spirit as Joey Burgess and Jess Beale clawed them back into the contest but have to be content to share the points with a spirited Southern Branch FC.
Gladesville Ravens 0 defeated by Sutherland Shire FA 5
Sutherland Shire FA flexed their muscles as they put on a five star performance to put away Gladesville Ravens and remain on top of the NPL 2 NSW Women’s competition.
It was the usual suspects on the scoresheet for the Shire ladies. Danielle Wise with a marvelous hat-trick as the visitors raced out to a 3-nil half-time lead.
Jordan Baker and Jessica Ellis got themselves on the scoresheet to round out a ruthless performance to lay down a marker to the rest of the top four competitors.
Afterwards the Sutherland Shire coach was pleased with the performance in difficult conditions and a bonus to keep a clean sheet as well.
-By Justin Davies, PS4 NPL 2 NSW Women’s reporter
