2021 SA NPLW Round 4 Wrap

The game of the round on paper opened the fourth week of action in the SA NPLW on Friday night, as Football SA NTC took on Adelaide City at VALO Football Centre.

NTC lost heavily in their opening round clash with Salisbury Inter, but since then it’s been success and goals all the way. Three in seven minutes were scored either side of half-time against reigning champions Metro United in an outstanding win last week, after smashing six past Comets in the first round of the Cup.

Adelaide City, defeated in the Grand Final last season, have had a tough start to the campaign with a win, draw and defeat going into Friday’s encounter. However, the return of Chelsie Dawber last week saw the W-League star score a hat-trick in a 4-0 victory over Fulham United.

For all the promise going into the game, what eventually transpired was a match of few clear cut chances which boiled down to two penalties in the final five minutes.

NTC dominated the possession in the opening twenty minutes or so. Anastasia Willoughby was creating the bulk of the opportunities down the left and if only her team mates were sharper in front of goal, the NTC could have been ahead.

After ten minutes of dominance from Willoughby, Adelaide City restructured slightly with Alana Fitzsimmons and Mikayla Vidmar using their superior physicality to nullify that particular threat.

NTC were promising in their build up play, showing real guile, pace and no little skill. Yet their decision making and quality of passing in the final third was well below par and with Vidmar asserting her control on the remainder of the half, their bright start seemed an increasingly distant memory.

On the half hour mark, Zoe Tolland coughed up possession to Fitzsimmons and the City star lofted a shot from the left hand side which was deflected out for a corner.

City were now in control of possession and looked sharper around the box, something which was aided by several disappointing clearances from NTC keeper Grace Wilson.

Fitzsimmons created once more for the black and whites as she beat Michaela Belmonte and floated in a pass for Caitlin White whose effort was over the bar.

The second half developed into a bit of an arm wrestle with the first opportunity falling to W-League star Chelsie Dawber, who gained possession centrally just outside the box. She showed quick feet to beat a NTC defender and get a shot away which went out for a corner.

NTC responded at last and Emilia Murray showed real pace down the right to get away from Sophie Leszczynski and square a ball to Abby Middleton, whose shot curled just centimetres over the bar in the first piece of real quality from NTC.

Just before the hour mark, NTC came close again when Isobel Dahlen-Flight’s back pass fell well short of her keeper Kendall Jenner. The Adelaide City custodian then collided with NTC’s Willoughby with Ella Tonkin looking to take advantage of the open goal, hitting her effort just wide of the left hand post.

As the game went into the final ten minutes, a goalless draw was still looking by far the most likely outcome. NTC’s Erin Kontoutsikos came close when she curled an effort which needed Jenner to push onto the post.

Then with five minutes to go, Adelaide City advanced with Dawber in possession in the box. She was caught painfully by Abbey Burns and there were no complaints when the referee pointed to the spot. Up stepped Dawber to fire a right footed shot into the net.

There was still time for NTC though and, as the clock ticked over the 90 minute mark, Murray stepped up on the right for a free kick. The vicious curl on the set piece caused chaos in the box, resulting in an NTC player going down and another spot kick being awarded. Nicola Scalzi stepped up to dispatch her spot kick into the left hand corner for 1-1.

Later on Friday night, Salisbury Inter took on Fulham United at the VALO Football Centre.

Inter welcomed back Chilean international and W-League star Cote Rojas last weekend for their game against Adelaide Comets, and the reigning Shirley Brown Medallist grabbed both goals as her side came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2.

With Fulham struggling at the bottom of the table, it was always going to be a tough night for them and it certainly turned out that way.

Rojas picked up where she left off last week by grabbing a hat-trick in just 29 first half minutes. She put Inter ahead after four minutes when Fulham carelessly lost possession on the left hand edge of their own box and the ball found its way to her in the middle, with the Chilean curling a glorious shot into the top right hand corner of the net. Chantelle Ryder doubled the lead after 28 minutes when it was all too easy for her to head home. Rojas then grabbed two goals in as many minutes. First, she picked up possession on the left hand edge of the box, juggled it over two Fulham defenders, created space and fired home. Then, a long ball caused chaos in the Fulham defence and Rojas was able to loft the ball over the keeper with ease. The rout was completed just after the hour mark when Emily Heazlewood got on the end of a ball whipped in from the left.

Salisbury Inter’s 5-0 win sees them remain top of the table on goal difference from West Adelaide. Conversely, at the bottom, Fulham United have now conceded 12 goals in their opening four NPLW games.

Saturday’s action started with the game between Metro United and West Adelaide at TK Shutter Reserve.

Defending champions Metro United were brought back down to earth last weekend when the young talent of the NTC was too much for them as they suffered a 3-1 defeat.

West have looked strong in the early stages of the season and many expected this to be an even tougher challenge than the one offered by NTC last time out.

Therefore it was not a total surprise when West Adelaide ran out 2-1 winners. Lara Kirkby, who played W-League football for Adelaide United in the season just gone, put West Adelaide ahead on the quarter hour mark when United’s keeper was only able to parry a shot directly into her path and Kirkby could not miss. Metro United levelled 11 minutes into the second half when Victoria Mansueto took advantage of a rush of blood to the head from the West Adelaide keeper who was well outside her area. Mansueto rounded her and rolled the ball into the net from a tight angle. The match winner for Wests came from Georgia Macri who took advantage of United losing possession on the edge of their box with 21 minutes, curling a low shot into the corner of the net.

The final game of the round took place at the SA Athletics Stadium where Adelaide Comets took on Adelaide University.

Comets went into the game on the back of picking up an impressive point against early season leaders Salisbury Inter last week, although they would have been frustrated at blowing an early 2-0 lead. University started the season with a bang when they defeated Adelaide City but two successive losses placed a big emphasis on their clash with the Comets, which ultimately saw them heartbroken at the death.

The game was heading towards a goalless draw before two goals in the final three minutes saw Comets earn their first win of the season. Valeria Guajardo put them ahead after 87 minutes when a ball across the box found her in space to fire home. Adelaide University’s woe was completed in stoppage time when Pirrie Weeks took advantage of a catalogue of errors by Uni, rolling the ball home after two defenders failed to clear and the goalkeeper missed her clearance kick completely. This result means Uni face a huge game against Fulham United next Friday night in a battle of the bottom two.

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