Round 2 Review – NPL 2 NSW Women’s
The National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Womens competition provided some superb performances in Round 2 after six contests which delivered on excitement, goals and drama as all twelve sides got onto the pitch on Sunday afternoon. Let’s get onto the review.
Match of the Round: Marconi Stallions 2 defeated St George FC 1
Marconi Stallions continued their unbeaten start to the 2020 season with a scrappy 2-1 result against a game St George FC this afternoon at Marconi Stadium #2.
Ten goals in two games is a good return for a Stallions side brimming with huge ambitions this season after the first fortnight. Goals in the first half hour from Ceyda Cambaz and Nicole Ossio were enough to secure three points and another clean sheet which pleased coach Andy Severin.
St George were spirited in their first display of the season despite the defeat. Sunny Lucien clawed one back in the second half to make it 2-1 but they were unable to breakdown the Stallions defense. Now they move onto their first home game vs UNSW FC.
Fresh from their eight-goal thrashing of Southern Branch FC, Marconi were on the front foot from the first minute when Danielle Bishop landed a ball onto the step of Ceyda Cambaz who wasn’t able to control the ball.
Stallions continued to pile up the chances. Samantha Hunyh went close from a floating free-kick followed by Cambaz having another shot low. St George FC tried to strike back through Tulley McEvoy whose long-range effort was tipped wide.
Their dominance came to fruition in a ten-minute stretch between the 20th and 30th minute where they found the back of the net twice. Cambaz fired home the first from the spot after a challenge in the box then Nicole Ossio converted a goalmouth scramble to make it 2-nil.
St George FC went close late in the half, Alicia Lee found some space inside the box but thrashed her effort wide of the post. Marconi Stallions held their two-goal lead headed into the half-time whistle.
Once again, Stallions looked to press home their advantage early. Bishop struck the post quickly followed by a cushioned ball into the path of Cambaz who flashed her effort wide in the bright start to the second stanza.
The visitors also came out with a renewed vigor and clawed one back in the 53rd minute. A slick through ball from Samantha Cupitt found Sunny Lucien in stride, she cut inside and rocketed home to make it 2-1.
St George FC started to find their rhythm in the contest. The visitors coming off a weekend off, started to bite into the challenges and pushed back against the Stallions. They also racked up some half chances which forced Stallions custodian Renee Krstanovska into action.
Marconi still had the better chances with substitute Joanna Martino having a pair of them. Her first was a direct free-kick that went straight to Saints keeper Amy Orphanides. Orphanides denied her again with a point-blank stop to keep it at 2-1.
Despite the flurry of activity, Marconi Stallions were able to ride it out for the three points and make it two for two to start their season. St George FC will use this as a base to get their season up and running for their next game.
Afterwards Marconi Stallions coach Andy Severin was delighted to continue their strong start to the season and their performance after how leaky their defense was in 2019:
“We’ve always had no problem scoring goals but we’ve focused on tightening up the defense which is shown in how disappointed they were to concede. For the second half, I asked the girls to assert their dominance but with the pitch it was tough.” said Severin.
For St George FC coach Mark Cupitt he remained upbeat despite the defeat as his side which is still banding together competed well this afternoon:
“They put in a shift in the second half, worked quite hard and I thought we could’ve got a point at the end there. It’s a brand-new side – a couple of girls from the side last year – but we’re going in the right direction.” said Cupitt.
MATCH STATS
Sunday 15 March 2020
Marconi Stadium #2, Bossley Park
Marconi Stallions 2 (Cambaz ‘20, Ossio ‘30)
St George FC 1 (Lucien ‘53)
Marconi Stallions: 1. KRSTANOVSKA Renee, 3. BISHOP Danielle (40. BABAN ‘53), 5. HUYNH Samantha, 8. CAMBAZ Ceyda, 9. CHRISTIE-JOHNSTON Jasmin (11. DALBON ‘66), 10. VOLODER Emma, 14. BUCHANAN Tamsin, 16. OSSIO Nicole, 17. FEATHERSTONE Lauren (6. MARTINO ‘45), 28. BUCHANAN Kaiya, 36. TAVARES Erin Leah
Unused subs: 18. MANNA Melina, 21. CURREY Tamara
Yellow cards: Krstanovska
Red cards: nil
St George FC: 1. ORPHANIDES Amy, 3. MINAS Joanna, 5. MAMO Julia, 6. RUSSO Genevieve, 7. LEE Alicia (17. FRY ‘74), 8. BENNETT Amy, 9. LUCIEN Sunny, 10. CUPITT Samantha (4. NACHAR ‘58), 11. MCEVOY Tulley (12. KENSITT ‘66), 15. PEZZOYYA Sara (14. MARJANOVIC ‘88), 16. ZOUROUDIS Jasmin (18. MOMSEN ‘62)
Yellow cards: Russo, Mamo, Kensitt
Red cards: nil
Central Coast Mariners 11 defeated Western NSW FC 0
The goals continue to pour in after Central Coast Mariners put 11 past Western NSW FC at Pluim Park Sunday afternoon.
Today’s result makes it 17 goals scored by the yellow-and-navy side in the first fortnight of the National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Womens competition. The Mariners sit atop the nascent ladder which will please coach Dan Barrett.
Danielle Wise headlined the scoresheet with four goals in the rout. Iona Snape continued her strong start with a hat-trick which followed her brace last weekend. Brooke Miller, Indianna Auddino and Maddison Van Dijk completed the scoring.
Nepean FC 3 defeated Southern Branch FC 0
Another side to register their first win was Nepean FC, putting three past Southern Branch FC in a 3-nil success on Sunday afternoon at Cook Park.
They don’t award style points so coach Alan Tasses will be glad to get his side off the duck egg. Nepean FC could’ve inflicted a higher score line but rattled the crossbar several times across the 90 minutes where they dominated.
Goals came from Stefanie Trovato, Dimitie Whiteman and Ellen Barios all got themselves off the mark for the season. Tasses still bemoaned the lack of being clinical in front of goal from his side but remained positive with three points.
Sutherland Shire FA 0 defeated by North Shore Mariners 3
North Shore Mariners got off to a winning start in their new digs, winning 3-nil against Sutherland Shire FA this afternoon at Harrie Denning Centre.
After their postponement last weekend, North Shore were vibrant in their attack. Evelyn Chronis scored before the break to hand the Mariners a 1-nil lead before Chronis completed her brace and Newcastle W-League star Hannah Brewer rounded off the score line.
The result was a statement from the Mariners taking down one of National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Womens heavyweight contenders in Sutherland Shire FA. North Shore Mariners continue their road trip next week against Inter Lions.
Sutherland Shire FA were disappointed to not follow up their win last weekend against Gladesville Ravens with another strong performance. Now, they move onto next week with the trip out to Western NSW.
UNSW FC 1 defeated Gladesville Ravens 0
The Students made it two-from-two with another slender victory, 1-nil against Gladesville Ravens down at Seymour Shaw on a brisk Sunday afternoon.
For their first contest at home, UNSW FC matched it with Gladesville Ravens. Custodian Nadine Knight produced some fantastic saves to keep it level while Desiree Miller took player of the match honours with her management of the back four.
It was a contest evenly contested but it was settled by Sarah Ferris’ thumped header five minutes before the break for Uni. Ferris forced Ravens custodian Eri Arikawa into a fine stop in the second half in a gritty performance from UNSW FC.
UNSW FC have lived up to coach Steve Greenwood’s pre-season talk that the side will be competitive against the top sides. For Gladesville, they have slumped to 0-for-2 which isn’t the ideal start to their Grand Final defense.
Inter Lions 0 defeated by SD Raiders FC 2
Getting themselves on the board, SD Raiders FC triumphed 2-nil against Inter Lions Sunday afternoon at Valentine Sports Park.
Buoyed by their disappointment from the last weekend, SD Raiders put in a much more fluid performance against first-up winners Inter Lions. Sarah Mandile scored either side of the half-time whistle to earn SD Raiders FC three points.
Inter Lions used the pace on either wing to trouble the SD Raiders FC defense but SD Raiders goalkeeper Natasha Pentecost was safe with both hands and feet to maintain the clean sheet.
Raiders coach Terry Gray was delighted with “the quality of the team play” as they moved the ball quicker and decisively in attack.
By Justin Davies (@JustDavies90)
