2021 NSW NPL Women’s Wrap – Round 8

With over a third of the NSW NPL Women’s season already gone, the finals picture looks like it’s beginning to take shape. The usual suspects are there or thereabouts, but will a team of kids spoil the party for one of the competitions big dogs? Find out this and more as we look back at the week that was in the Harbour City.

Match of the Round: Football NSW Institute vs NW Sydney Koalas

Football NSW Institute made it three on the spin with a 3-1 home win over North West Sydney Koalas at Valentine Sports Park on Sunday afternoon.

Goals to Charlie Rule, Sarah Hunter and Cushla Rue were enough to seal all three points for the high-flying Institute side, with Sarah Perrins’ neat set-piece volley for Koalas proving little more than a consolation come full-time.

Institute started the brighter of the two sides, pressing typically high up the pitch and looking to shoot on sight when given the opportunity.

And only three minutes into the first half, Institute crafted their first chance through that pressure, with Hunter robbing Koalas defender Ellie Howard and launching a tame effort from 30 metres straight into the waiting arms of keeper Clare Coelho.

Institute wouldn’t have to wait long for their opening goal though, as Hunter found herself in space behind a bemusingly high Koalas backline and on the end of a perfect pass from deep, lashing her first-time shot past a stranded Coelho from outside the box.

Coelho more than redeemed herself barely a minute later, pulling off a brilliant reflex save in a messy 3-on-2 attack and kicking another effort to safety from Jordan Jasnos, before watching Holly McNamara’s swivelling shot roll agonisingly past her upright for a goal kick.

The Koalas glovewoman was in the thick of things again five minutes later, putting her body on the line to again deny the Institute a second goal, unfortunately wearing a McNamara effort on goal in the face for her troubles.

Hunter again went close to extending her side’s lead with 10 minutes of the first stanza to play, turning out of trouble and sending two Koalas defenders to the corner shop before unleashing a bouncing shot beyond the diving Coelho and off the far post to safety.

Koalas almost levelled immediately after the break, as the fleet-footed Sophie Harding broke into space behind the Institute defence to play a lovely square pass to Isabella Volkanovski, only for goalkeeper Miranda Templeman to make a brilliant diving save low to her left.

That acrobatic excellence was all for nought though, as Koalas equalised from the resulting corner; racing to the front post to meet Rachel Soutar’s hip-height corner, Perrins was first to the ball and poked a timely volley past the stranded Templeman to make things all square once again.

Parity wouldn’t see the hour mark though as Institute once again took the lead through Rule – and how; controlling Jasnos’ whipped left-foot cross, Rule smartly lashed an outside-of-the-boot curler from 18 yards to leave substitute ‘keeper Katie Offer rooted to the spot with a true gem of a goal.

And Institute would have its third with 20 minutes of the second half to play, after one of the most bizarre passages of play you’re likely to see in the league: released into space by Rule, Hunter was absolutely poleaxed by an Ivana Galic tackle outside the box, and as play was allowed to develop through some great refereeing from Isabella Libri, McNamara floated a cross into the airborne Rue, whose header crashed back off the crossbar and into Offer, who scrambled the ball back over the line but not before the goal was awarded.

Around the Grounds
Manly United 4 Emerging Jets 1
Illawarra Stingrays 2 Sydney University 4
Sydney Olympic 4 Bankstown City 0
Northern Tigers 1 Blacktown Spartans 1
APIA Leichhardt 4 Macarthur Rams 2