Round 3 Review – League One Women’s
Round 3 in the Football NSW League One Womens competition was blighted by three washouts due to the recent wet weather, but five exciting contests were completed in another fantastic weekend of football action.
There were wins for Hills United FC, Northbridge Bulls FC, St George FC and a maiden win for South Coast Flame FC.
Let’s get onto the review!
Match of the Round: UNSW FC 2 drew with Gladesville Ravens 2
Gladesville Ravens struck late to grab a share of the points against UNSW FC in a 2-2 draw at a wet and wild Seymour Shaw.
The students will rue two dropped points after a superb first half performance which had them leading 2-1 at the break. Their goals came from Hannah Charak and Marcella Santos in a double dose of goals, but coach Guillermo Rubio will lament the late equaliser.
Gladesville Ravens bookended the game with goals to Maggie O’Reilly and Keiko Tanaka.
It was great weather for ducks and footballers in Miranda.
Both sides were eager to find their feet quickly in the conditions and the Ravens swooped on the early lead. Maggie O’Reilly fired home from a corner to make it 1-0.
Anja Seeto almost made it double delight for the Ravens when she out-paced a defender to fire a shot on goal but it was easily taken by UNSW FC custodian Tiahna Robertson. Gladesville Ravens were flying early and looking for their second win.
The students started to find their way into the contest with a couple of tame efforts at goal. UNSW FC were also forced into an early change when Hannah Charak was sent on for Ashley Blayney just after the half hour mark.
Charak made an instant impact. She took advantage of a mix-up between the Ravens defense and nestled the ball into the back, making it 1-1 as the rain like goals continued to pelt down at Seymour Shaw.
Next, Charak turned provider with a delightful threaded ball to Marcella Santos to slot into the bottom corner to make it 2-1. Her goal completed the UNSW FC turnaround and was quickly followed by the half-time whistle.
Right after the break, Santos almost added a third for UNSW FC. She strode through the defence and into the box but her shot was palmed away strongly by Gladesville Ravens custodian Romina Parraguire to keep it at 2-1.
In control of the contest, UNSW FC had a prime chance to once again add a third goal to their tally when Charak stood over a free kick. She put the free kick over the bar as the Students continued to push forward for a third goal.
Looking to get back into the contest, Gladesville Ravens kept flooding forward to find the equaliser but were left frustrated by the stubborn defence of the UNSW FC side.
UNSW FC still had their own chances to put the game to bed. Jesse Mullins put a thunderous volley over the bar as the game started to get stretched with both teams looking to find the next goal in the contest.
Ravens went close just before the full-time whistle when O’Reilly found some space in the area and thrashed wide. Gladesville Ravens started to accumulate corners but couldn’t find the final touch to find the equaliser.
Heading into stoppage time, Ravens were looking for someone to be the hero in the contest and salvage something from the game. Enter Japanese star import Keiko Tanaka. She strode confidently into the box, fired a shot that kissed off the post and into the net for 2-2.
There was one final chance for UNSW FC to steal the game. Charak and Cassandra Christopher combined for the latter to arrow the ball wide of the net.
It was quickly followed by the full-time whistle as the sides shared the spoils.
Speaking post-match UNSW FC coach Guillermo Rubio felt like his side let the game slip from their grasp after an impressive performance to fight back:
“It is unfortunate. We had it and lost the three points in injury time. We played really well and stuck to the game plan. It would’ve been a nice win against a very good team. Overall, I am happy with the performance but not happy with just a point.” said Rubio.
For Gladesville Ravens coach Claude De Francesco had a similar feeling post-match with the game being a missed opportunity to take all three points:
“It was frustrating. Difficult conditions and I thought we controlled the game for the first 20 minutes, but some mistakes had us chasing the game. Today was our opportunity to bounce back after last week and I thought the girls did well.” said De Francesco
Match Stats
Sunday 6th March 2022
Seymour Shaw, Miranda
UNSW FC 2 (Hannah Charak, Marcella Santos)
Gladesville Ravens 2 (Maggie O’Reilly, Keiko Tanaka)
UNSW FC: 1. ROBERTSON Tiahna, 2. FERRIS Sarah (34. KARATASOS ‘78), 3. MULLINS Jesse, 4. BLAYNEY Ashley (14. CHARAK ‘35), 7. DARLASTON Rio, 8. MURPHY Sonja, 10. BRACO Maria, 11. SANTOS Marcella, 12. HESS Eve, 16. MORRIS Issey (13. ADAM ‘74), 20. CHRISTOPHER Cassandra
Unused subs: 15. JOFFE Lara, 21. HOWELL Akala, 23. BELL Yoo Jin
Yellow cards:
Red cards: nil
Gladesville Ravens: 5. TANAKA Keiko, 6. SEETO Anja, 7. WOOLLEY Gemma, 8. VLANGOS Georgia, 9. ZACZEK Zoe, 15. GILBANE Elizabeth, 18. LONG Teagan (13. MERKOUREAS ‘58), 22. PARRAGUIRRE Romina, 24. DAVEY Kimberley (12. DENBY ‘73), 25. HANSEN Eloise (4. LIDBETTER ‘78), 26. O’REILLY Maggie
Unused subs: 2. HARKIN Amy, 3. GOMEZ Zoe, 17. DUMMETT Lillian
Yellow cards: Woolley
Red cards: nil
Camden Tigers 0 defeated by St George FC 8
St George FC showed their ruthless edge with an 8-0 victory against the Camden Tigers at Lynwood Park.
Last week the Saints attack was blunted but on a wet weekend in Sydney, it was a deluge of goals for St George FC. Gun striker Jordan Baker scored a hat-trick while Lara Nicholls bagged a brace to take her tally to three for the season.
The rest of the goals came from Stevie Donougher, Melanie Anderson and Jasmine Maguire in the rout which pleased coach Mark Cupitt.
The Saints remain in the ranks of the undefeated to start the season and look ready for another tilt at the title this season.
For Camden Tigers, they were brought back to earth after their opening two games which saw them pick up four points. The Tigers have surprised teams already this season and for half an hour held St George to a 0-0 score line before the game got away from them.
Nepean FC 1 defeated by South Coast Flame FC 2
It was a momentous day for South Coast Flame FC who secured their maiden win in a tight 2-1 result against Nepean FC at Jamison Park.
After their close call on a maiden win last week, South Coast Flame tasted sweet victory on a cold afternoon in Penrith.
The Flame found the back of the net first through goal machine Jessica Cruickshank with her fourth goal of the season.
Nepean FC struck back through Annalise Schiraldi on the half hour mark to make it 1-1 before Sariah Wilson found the winner for South Coast Flame early in the second half.
The Flame have made a wonderful start to life in League One Womens with four points banked.
Conversely it has been a tough start for Nepean FC. Coach Albert Di Sciascio has remained confident in his squad will start to turn it around in the coming weeks. They are starting to gel and find their feet with a new squad.
Northbridge Bulls FC 2 defeated Central Coast Mariners FC 0
The Northbridge Bulls made it back-to-back wins in a comfortable 2-0 victory against Central Coast Mariners at Valentine Sports Park #2
The Bulls lost the inspirational Hannah Beard before kick-off which forced them into a reshuffle. Northbridge Bulls shook off the changes and opened the scoring through Tamires Souza. Souza is quickly becoming a regular fixture on the scoresheet for the Bulls with five in three games.
Northbridge Bulls added a second goal late in the contest through Cate Gyzen – her second in second in successive matches, Gyzen has given the Bulls another attacking arrow to their bow.
That result pushes the Bulls to third place alongside SD Raiders FC.
Central Coast Mariners battled hard but couldn’t find a way through the Bulls defense. The yellow-and-navy side remain in the lower end of the table but have shown in their work already that they will rocket up the ladder quickly.
Hills United FC 1 defeated SD Raiders FC 0
Hills United FC just keep rolling with their third straight win against a defiant SD Raiders FC side at Bella Vista Public School.
The home side scored the only goal through Ellen Berios who has netted in back-to-back games to continue their strong start to the season. Coach Alan Tasses was delighted to win but hopes the side can avoid getting anymore injuries to the squad.
For SD Raiders FC, it was their first defeat of the season after back-to-back wins. They are a strong side so it will be a short setback for SD Raiders FC as they head back to Ernie Smith Reserve next week to play Camden Tigers.
Marconi Stallions vs Mt Druitt Town Rangers and South East Phoenix FC vs Inter Lions were washed out. Sutherland Shire FA vs Blacktown City FC has been moved to 9/03/22.
By Justin Davies (@JustDavies90)
