Round 14 Review – Futsal Premier League 2 Open Women’s
Round 14 in the Futsal Premier League 2 Open Womens was a weekend worthy to see out the regular season in fine style. All four matches were filled with goals and dramas and the top four was finally settled after the final whistle. Let’s get onto the review!
Raiders Futsal Club 3 drew with Sydney City Eagles 3
It was a wild ride but Raiders Futsal Club secured a finals spot in their 3-3 draw against Sydney City Eagles at Thomas Hassell Anglican College on Saturday afternoon.
Raiders Futsal Club made life hard for themselves. They led 3-1 after goals from Erin Tavares, Olivia Burke and Ellie Smyth but were pegged back. The hosts saw out the game and got the point they needed for the finals.
As has become the story for Sydney City Eagles, they had to produce a comeback in a game to get something from it. Sofia Sollecito equalised in the first half before Melina Manna and Elena Antic rounded out the draw.
In a game where there were some high stakes, especially for Raiders Futsal Club, the action was fast and furious from the opening whistle.
It was Sydney City Eagles who were the first side to register an effort. Melina Manna fired an effort at Raiders Futsal Club custodian Jasmine Crouch who clutched it gratefully.
The Eagles also had another chance to open the scoring through Emma Voloder. She has been a consistent goal scorer for the Eagles all season but had this effort blocked away.
After the early salvos, it was Raiders Futsal Club that opened the scoring. Erin Tavares was on the end of the move from the hosts and rolled it home for 1-0.
The pattern remained in favour of the Eagles who were dominating the chances in the game. Alanah Nicholas swooped on an errant pass then shot straight.
Raiders Futsal Club keeper Crouch had to stand tall to deny the Eagles on several occasions with the biggest chance fell to Voloder who shot over.
Their pressure paid off a minute later with the equaliser for the Eagles. Sofia Sollecito was the player on the spot and swept the ball home to make it 1-1.
The hosts would take the lead into the breakthrough Olivia Burke. She was at the end of a wonderful passing move from Raiders Futsal Club and made it 2-1.
Both sides had a chance to add to the scoreboard in the first half. Alyssa Zuvela turned well before shooting wide then Tavares shot wide for Raiders Futsal Club in the final minute.
The second half started in a flurry of action for Raiders Futsal Club. Ellie Smyth made it a two-goal cushion after she was found with a pass and slotted home for 3-1.
That goal sparked the Eagles into action. Some good tic-tac-toe movement from Melina Manna and Montana Bolzan saw the former fire home to make it 3-2.
Before the celebrations calmed down the game was tied. Elena Antic found some space and rocketed home a shot to make it 3-3 and set up a grandstand finish.
It was tense inside Thomas Hassell Anglican College with Sydney City Eagles looking to swoop and take the three points and the final chance fell to Sollecito who shot straight.
The two sides played out a pulsating 3-3 draw and it meant that Raiders Futsal Club held onto the fourth and final spot in the FPL2 Open Womens finals series.
Post match Raiders Futsal Club coach Antonio Marco was delighted his side got the job done despite the late drama in the game:
“It was a great game and we had it for a while there. Credit to Sydney City Eagles for their comeback and I think it was good futsal all round. We got the result we needed and finals football is a whole different beast next week.” said Marco.
For Sydney City Eagles coach Anthony Tomelic, once again he was happy with the second half from the side but need them to work on their first halves:
“Again, it seems to be the same every week. We start slow and go down a goal or two then fight back in the game. The girls showed their fight and drew level which I think was a fair result tonight.” said Tomelic.
MATCH STATS
Saturday 10 December 2022
Raiders Futsal Club 3 (Tavares, Burke, Smyth)
Sydney City Eagles 3 (Sollecito, Manna, Antic)
Raiders Futsal Club: 1. CROUCH Jasmine, 2. TAVARES Erin, 5. OSSIO Nicole, 6. SMYTH Ellie, 8. MORGAN Gemma, 9. EL AZAR Eleni, 10. BARTOLILLO Gemma, 13. FLINT Stevie, 20. NOBLE Bianca, 21. BURKE Jessica, 36. BURKE Olivia
Yellow cards: nil
Red cards: nil
Sydney City Eagles: 1. SOLLECITO Isabella, 2. NICHOLAS Alanah, 3. ZUVELA Alyssa, 4. MANNA Melina, 5. BOLZAN Motana, 7. ANTIC Elena, 10. VOLODER Emma, 12. PERRE Alessia, 13. SOLLECITO Sofia
Yellow cards: nil
Red cards: nil
West City Crusaders 1 defeated by Sydney Futsal Club 7
Sydney Futsal Club ended their season on a high note in a 7-1 win over West City Crusaders at PCYC Hawkesbury on Saturday afternoon.
The Crusaders had a chance to swoop in and take fourth spot on the FPL2 Open Womens ladder but the closest they got was equalising at 1-1 in the first half. Holly Pender scored their only goal of the game with her eighth goal of the season.
For the visitors, it was a good way for them to sign off and gives them something to build on for their next campaign. Liana Calabro got herself a hat-trick in the six-goal win for Sydney Futsal Club which sees them finish sixth.
The other goal scorers in the game were Isabella Hopkins who picked up a pair of goals which takes her tally to five goals for the season. Natalie Marchese and Tiarne Schuman rounded out the scoring for the visitors.
South Coast Taipans 3 defeated SD Raiders Futsal 0
Second place South Coast Taipans rounded out their regular season with a 3-0 win over SD Raiders Futsal at UOW Sports Hub on Saturday afternoon.
All of the Taipans goals came in the first half which helped them to their 10th win of the FPL2 Open Womens season. Ashley Kotevski, Ursula Bratjanscak and Megan Grew were the scorers in a solid defensive performance which pleased coach Bobby Mazevski.
SD Raiders Futsal started the first half of the season in a good spot but fell away late and finished in seventh spot on the FPL2 Open Womens ladder. They won three games across the season which is a good platform for 2023.
Phoenix Futsal Club 0 defeated by Boomerangs FS 11
Boomerangs FS were ruthless in their 11-0 win against Phoenix Futsal Club at The Centre – Dural on Saturday afternoon.
It means that the Canberra side go through the whole regular season undefeated with a massive 90 goals scored and only eight conceded through 14 rounds. On Saturday, Stefanie Lejins led the scorers with a hat-trick in the big win.
The other scorers came in doubles mostly for Boomerangs FS. Olivia Gurney, Ailish McDonagh and Madeleine Perceval all fired home twice while Ella-Rose Brown got the opener and Maria Pachi was the other goal scorer.
For Phoenix Futsal Club, it was a tough way to end what has been a tough season for the proud club who had two wins across the season and finished in eighth position. They will look to rebuild in the off-season and improve next year.
By Justin Davies (@JustDavies90)
