SELECT Futsal Premier League – Round 8 Open Women’s Review
SELECT Futsal Premier League round 8 Open Women’s matches saw Campbelltown Quake edge Enfield Allstars 4-3, Mountain Majik shutout Dural Warriors 3-0, Inner West Magic pip UTS Northside 3-2, and Mascot Vipers defeat Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 5-3.
Magic (22 points) have again scooted clear of the pack as UTS (18) stave off top-two challenges from Majik (17) and Campbelltown (14), while Easts (9), Mascot (5), Dural (4) and Enfield (3) have six games left to find an unlikely playoff push.
Finding form as hosts might be a helpful step: Inner West are the only side to have collected more points at home than away. Three sides are yet to win at home, and Campbelltown only won their first at Minto on Saturday – they’d be in second spot if they’d match the 10 points they’ve earned on the road.
Another multiple score from Majik star Ashlie Crofts took her to sweet-16 goals for the summer, well ahead of Hakoah gun Tamires Souza (11), Magic duo Rhianna Pollicina (10) and Ceyda Cambaz (7), Northside’s Genvieve Tucker (6), Quake’s Linda Dudek (5) and Majik’s Monique Holder (5).
Campbelltown Quake 4 (Bethany Gordon 2, Caitlin Orridge, Linda Dudek) Enfield Allstars 3 (Savannah Seixas, Fabiana Perfilio, Jo-Anne Saliba)
Dural Warriors 0 Mountain Majik 3 (Ashlie Crofts 2, Renee Blakemore)
UTS Northside 2 (Sarah Rodger, Genevieve Tucker) Inner West Magic 3 (Rhianna Pollicina, Ceyda Cambaz, Bianca Galic)
Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 3 (Paloma Goncalves Oliveira 3) Mascot Vipers 5 (Kiara Farquhar 2, Natasha Aitken 2, Caitlin Campbell)
Quake shake Allstars
Campbelltown Quake were pushed all the way in a dogged 4-3 win over Enfield Allstars at Minto Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday afternoon.
It was tooth-and-nail stuff as both sides showed strong intent and it took a wily 15-year-old Darcey Malone move to slot a ball back-stick for an open Linda Dudek to bury the opener for Campbelltown.
The Quake joy was shortlived as Enfield equalised through a well-taken Savannah Sexias freekick before some razzle-dazzle from young gun Beth Gordon, fresh back from Denmark and in her first game for the ‘purples’, who turned it on with a brilliant left-foot cut-in for a top-corner pigeon that restored the home side’s lead.
Gordon doubled the advantage not two minutes later when she connected well with Dudek for a neat one-two that allowed Gordon to tap in her second goal to make it 3-1, before 16-year-old Caitlin Orridge penned her name on the scoresheet following nifty footwork that ripped through her defender at the top of the D and a shot that left the Allstars keeper with no chance.
Enfield weren’t done with yet and just before halftime some solid halfway defence from Niqui Caridad disposed Toni Sharp and a great pass found Joanne Saliba who produced a textbook finish to trail 2-4 at the break.
The visitors were full of steam to start the second term and Fabiana Perfilio found herself free at the back post for a simple nudge that reduced the margin to one goal and put Enfield back on the front-foot.
As the clock ticked toward fulltime an Allstars breakaway resulted in a foul just outside the D, and a superb Saliba strike shaved the underside of the bar and ruffled the netting, but as Enfield celebrated a belated equaliser the referee called it out for a Zoe Zaczek foul on the Quake keeper and Campbelltown held on for a first win at Minto this summer and a fourth straight outing unbeaten.
It was a superb game from both outfits and Quake coach Mel Keith applauded the efforts of the players.
“After beating Enfield 6-1 in the first round we knew this one would be a fight after seeing them recruit as many as five players who did not see the round one fixture,” she said.
“We started the game well and had a lot of early opportunities to put us ahead that went astray… but [at 4-1 up before halftime] Enfield wouldn’t lie down!
“They came out a side determined to make our job hard and to get back in the game and that they did.”
“It was a controversial end to a game that we should have been in control of,” Keith said. “We let Enfield have a sniff of the game when we should of killed them off earlier. Credit to Enfield for the fight they put up.”
“I’m excited to see what Beth Gordon can bring to our team and if today was anything to go by it should be a massive benefit to us.
“The younger girls in the club are stepping up and matching it in the women’s. Caitlin Orridge again on the score sheet and Darcey Malone causing havoc for teams week-to-week shows that the future of Quake women’s is in good hands.”
“Next week Inner West – the real test!”
Campbelltown have certainly shown they are a team unit with 10 different players already scoring a goal this season, six of them more than once – leading the comp in both stats.
Quite ridiculously, Enfield suffered a fifth one-goal defeat in eight heartbreaking summer rounds. They’ve clearly shown they can match it with any team they face, yet they remarkably sit on the floor of the competition basement with just one win to their name… ironically by one goal.
Majik dispel Warriors
Mountain Majik produced a methodical 3-0 whitewash of Dural Warriors face at The Centre on Saturday evening.
Dural have struggled all season at both ends of the court but they put in a highly spirited first-half performance to only trail 0-1 against a talent-laden Mountain side, and that goal came from a back-court Warriors mistake.
But Majik were firmly in control in the second half to seal a 3-zip win courtesy of an Ashlie Crofts brace – she’s now scored three doubles and three triples to head the scorers chart on 16, and potted seven against Warriors in their last four meetings (scoring in each run).
More importantly, Mountain moved within a point of second-place UTS on the table and coach Adam Barbera was thrilled.
“I’m very happy with a composed and controlled performance,” he said.
“We knew we needed to focus on our ball speed and movement to break down Dural’s compact structure and it was pleasing to see us remain switched on without the ball, limit Dural to only a few chances, and finish the game with a clean sheet.”
Warriors coach Tani Rosekelly found some positives but again lamented a lack of potency up front, pointing to her opponents as a team they must try to emulate.
“I’m happy with the first-half performance despite going into the break down a goal down; the girls defended well and Sarah Easthope was in fine form between the sticks, making some great single and double saves.”
“But to win you must score and not taking our chances is killing us. Their keeper made a phenomenal save in the second half that kept us from finding the net.
“Mountain Majik are a good, young team who play with great intensity and hunger!”
Magic expel UTS
Inner West Magic beat UTS Northside 3-2 in an absolute Saturday-night doozy at PCYC Dee Why.
The unbeaten competition leaders hammered their hosts for the opening quarter-hour with nine shots on target, repelled each time by a heroic Northside defence led by their impenetrable keeper.
Finally Inner West broke the shackles and dual strikes from weapons Rhianna Pollicina and Ceyda Gambaz lifted Magic 2-0 clear before UTS fired back a salvo of their own when Sarah Roger found a way through the tight defence to halve the deficit heading into oranges.
Bianca Galic added another for Inner West to restore a two-goal buffer on the half-hour, but blossoming Northside star Genevieve Tucker’s return serve five minutes later made it a nervy finish for Magic who had to withstand a UTS barrage to close out the game with their noses just in front 4-3.
The result builds a four-point gap between Inner West and UTS and it’s steady as she goes for the foundation club, although…
Magic are relishing top spot with a battle-hardened defence and plenty of talent across the board, and it’s great they’ve found eight different scorers for their 26 goals to date, however, only three of them have scored more than once. In fact, Pollicina (10) and Cambaz (7) have combined for two-thirds of their team’s total.
Inner West coach Matteo Maiorana freely acknowledged his unit has been far from its best – with or without certain players – but when they clicked it was as a complete team.
“To be honest our performances this season haven’t been at the standard we normally hold ourselves to,” he said.
“I’ve been quite disappointed with them, but tonight, WOW, we were fantastic, especially In the first half; but credit to UTS, they are well coached and kept coming, their GK was a fantastic!”
“For the first time this season we had our full squad and it really helped. I’m really, really proud of my girls; whenever we play UTS we know we are in for a battle so to get three points was a fantastic result.”
Northside mentor Danny Beauchamp loved how his side gave themselves a chance against a very confident rival.
“The girls were excited for the clash but maybe let the occasion get the best of them,” he said. “We weren’t as fluid in possession as we could be and defensively struggled to contain some individuals from Inner West.”
“The game had great intensity for the majority, but credit to Magic who were the better team on the day.”
“Our girls will take lessons from the experience and look forward to a (hopeful) rematch later in the season.”
Vipers strike Hakoah
Mascot Vipers broke their duck with a scintillating 5-3 victory over Eastern Suburbs Hakoah at a very loud All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night.
Mascot were determined from the get-go at the shared-home venue and rocketed to a 4-1 halftime lead, and not even the dismissal of Romina Plaza was enough to slow Vipers down as they held off a fast-finishing Hakoah to win by two goals and leapfrog Dural and Enfield on their way out of the competition cellar.
Kiara Farquhar and Natasha Aitken both pocketed pairs for Mascot, while Easts were led by a Paloma Goncalves Oliveira hat-trick.
Next week’s games
SELECT Futsal Premier League round-9 Saturday matches pitches Mountain Majik versus Eastern Suburbs Hakoah at Blacktown Leisure Centre (3.10pm), Inner West Magic against Campbelltown Quake at Valentine Sports Park (5.20pm), Dural Warriors play Enfield Allstars at The Centre (5.50pm), and Mascot Vipers meet UTS Northside at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (7.50pm).
-By Dan de Nardi
