Round 5 Review – Futsal Premier League Open Women’s
Saturday’s Open Women’s action was the perfect antidote to the wet weather, with great goalkeeping, dazzling teamwork and ruthless finishing keeping the spectators entertained.
The top three teams are starting to break away from the rest, but everyone has at least nine games remaining on their schedule, so there’s still plenty of time for the chasing pack to reel them in.
UTS Northside 1 Campbelltown City Quake 1
The points were split at PCYC Dee Why after a pulsating contest.
UTS sharpshooter Daisy Arrowsmith has been on fire to start the season and this game was no different. She continued her excellent form on Saturday, opening the scoring in the fourth minute. Grace Arnold (who had a great game) was prominent in the buildup – when her shot was saved, Arrowsmith was in position to score her seventh goal in five games.
Northside had a number of chances, helped by a standout performance from Tess Olsen, both with the ball and in defence. On another day the hosts could have netted more goals, but credit must go to Quake goalkeeper Brianna Clarke and the rest of her team for some solid defending.
As for Quake, they grew into the game and started to create scoring opportunities of their own. With 15 minutes remaining, a brilliant team move ensured that Quake’s long trip to the northern beaches wasn’t a pointless one. Claire Gilligan kicked things off with a backheel, then Maddie Malone and India Breier combined to set up Linda Dudek, who picked the perfect time to score her first goal of the campaign.
Quake coach Mel Keith was pleased with an improved performance from her younger players, praising their determination as they fought back to earn a draw against the league leaders.
Mascot Vipers 3 Inner West 0
That’s three wins in a row for Mascot, who stay within touching distance of the top two.
Vipers speedster Stephanie Augoustis did the damage in the first half with a couple of venomous strikes. She scored the first goal in the sixth minute and repeated the feat with halftime approaching to double Mascot’s lead – braces in consecutive games mean Augoustis is clearly a player to watch in the coming weeks.
Sienna Fraser hit the back of the net in the final ten minutes to seal the points, but the Vipers didn’t have it all their own way. Inner West forced Mascot goalkeeper Ivana Rozman into making a number of key saves, and the result could had been different had she not been in such excellent form between the sticks. Rozman didn’t just stand out for her shot stopping, with her distribution to start attacks also a key part of the Vipers performance.
Up next for Mascot is a big away trip to Campbelltown City Quake, while Inner West will try to move up the table when they host Eastern Suburbs Hakoah.
Mountain Majik 0 Enfield Allstars 4
Enfield earned their first three point haul of 2022 with a hard fought win at Valentine Sports Park.
An early Allstars goal set the tone for the evening, although the young Majik side grew into the game and for most of the contest were able to hang in there, helped by some excellent saves from their goalkeeper Amity Jackson.
However, Enfield always maintained control of the play. In the closing stages, Majik became more adventurous as they fought for an equaliser, but the Allstars kept their structure and were able to score three counter-attacking goals, putting a very nice gloss on the scoreline.
On Saturday, Mountain Majik head to The Centre in search of their first victory for the season, however they have a tough assignment against high flying Dural Warriors. Enfield also have a difficult game – they host league leaders UTS Northside at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre.
Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 0 Dural Warriors 1
It’s two consecutive wins for Dural after they triumphed by a single goal in Riverwood.
Hakoah raced out of the blocks and threatened to score on a number of occasions in the early minutes. However, Dural goalkeeper Sarah Easthope wasn’t in the mood to be beaten and made a number of fine saves, while Samantha Nagy also cleared a shot off the line to deny Gisella Pipino.
The Warriors would gain a foothold as the game progressed and could have opened the scoring with the last action of the first half, but Nagy’s shot smacked against the post.
The decisive moment came six minutes after halftime – Easthope’s perfectly weighted throw found Sheiden Jabour and the number 17 gave Dural a 1-0 lead with a neat finish into the bottom corner.
Dural did their best to push for a second goal and club legend Rachel Perrins was central to a lot of their best moves. Despite this, the game’s final minutes belonged to Hakoah and they will wonder how they didn’t score. Tamires Souza and Marcella Santos were prominent as the home side chased an equaliser, with Souza hitting the inside of the post and pushing the Dural defence to its limits. However, another string of Easthope saves and a second Nagy goalline clearance ensured a Warriors clean sheet.
By Eric Subijano (Twitter – @eric_subijano)
