2021 SA NPLW Round 6 Wrap

Round Six kicked off on Friday night with Football SA NTC taking on struggling Fulham United at VALO Football Centre.

NTC’s youthful talent ran out 4-2 winners in the end, grabbing their third win of the campaign. It was tough for Fulham from the start as Emilia Murray gave NTC the lead with just 16 seconds on the clock. She was given the freedom to run between two Fulham defenders and comfortably slot home a long ball played through the middle.

However, the bottom-placed side responded well and Mia Lundquist leveled the scores after 11 minutes when she seized upon a catastrophic ball played across their own box by NTC and lofted a great effort into the net.

However NTC hit back strongly, scoring twice in four minutes. First, Murray grabbed her second of the game after a couple of great passes, Murray beating her marker with ease to score. Then with 26 minutes played, Madeleine Wright took advantage of total chaos in the Fulham defence. A short goal kick found the visitors’ first defender, but their onward pass was made without looking up and went straight to Wright, who rolled the ball home to make it 3-1.

Just after half-time, NTC added a fourth when Anastasia Willoughby took advantage of yet another defensive disaster from Fulham. Receiving the ball from a pass back, their goalkeeper took a heavy touch which directed the ball straight to Willoughby, who scored with glee. Josephine Trimboli gave Fulham some hope of a late comeback with just under twenty minutes left when she received the ball right of centre around 25 metres from goal, lofting a sumptuous effort into the top corner.

Fulham may have doubled their scoring tally for the season in this game, but their continued defensive woes are leaving them in danger of being cast well adrift at the bottom.

Immediately afterward at the same venue, Adelaide University faced Metro United.

Defending champions Metro went into the game having picked up only four points from their opening five matches. Metro lost their third successive encounter last weekend to Salisbury Inter in a 4-0 thumping.

They earned a 3-1 win which was desperately needed to get their season back on track – but it wasn’t without its worrying moments. Indeed, Milano Venter put Uni ahead with less than two minutes on the clock with a superb effort from the right-hand corner of the box that flew in off the crossbar.

Facing another disappointing defeat, Metro rallied after the break. Millie Scott leveled matters within two minutes of the restart when she took advantage of hesitation at the back to pounce and lift the ball over the Uni keeper into the net.

Rochelle Draper finally put Metro United ahead 11 minutes later with a fantastic ‘Olimpico’ which curled into the far corner of the net. Kristy Moore finally confirmed her side’s victory with a quarter of an hour left. Receiving the ball on the edge of the box, she turned one defender and ran into the area to beat another before slotting brilliantly under the onrushing keeper.

Saturday’s action began with what was on paper a fascinating clash when Adelaide City hosted unbeaten league leaders Salisbury Inter at Adelaide City Park.

City, beaten in last season’s Grand Final, has started this year’s campaign disappointingly, winning just once and drawing three times. This means that they’ve already dropped more points this season than they did in 2020. City desperately needed a result to not lose pace with the top of the table.

Inter on the other hand has gone from strength to strength and are now shaping up as the side to beat in 2021, with their most recent triumph a commanding 4-0 victory over reigning champions Metro United.

The plaudits were generally all with Adelaide City at the end of the afternoon after they produced a fantastic defensive performance when under pressure in the first half and earned a deserved share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw.

Inter started on the front foot, constantly pressing at a high pace and looking for the killer pass at every opportunity. Emily Heazlewood, so impressive this season, was influential in these early exchanges. The league leaders did unfortunately suffer what appeared to be a serious injury to Anna Pritchard, who needed six minutes of treatment before being stretchered off.

Whilst Inter was dominating the possession, Adelaide City were well organised and comfortable at the back. Cote Rojas, so dominant for the visitors this season, was being forced to drop back to the centre of the field in order to gain possession, such was the quality of the shutout that Adelaide was imposing at the back, going two on one as Inter attacked at times.

Subsequently, much of the first half was played in the middle third of the pitch as City were unable to create much offensively themselves. Indeed it took them almost half an hour to force their first corner, but rather than lead to a chance for themselves, Rojas grabbed possession and raced away, playing in Dragana Kljajic who forced a save from City keeper Kendall Jenner.

Kljajic was hugely impressive for the visitors in the opening half – her work rate and quality of distribution shone through.

As the half neared its conclusion, Adelaide City was gaining more possession – offensively they did not have the pace to concern Inter at the back but they did create two chances.

First, Chrissie Zikos got free down the left and then cut inside to shoot, only to be denied by a superb tackle from Nicole Calder. Then, Chelsie Dawber turned and shot powerfully, needing a firm hand from Inter keeper Zafiro Papanikitas to keep it out.

Inter had one last opportunity before the break when a trademark run from Rojas ended with a powerful effort from 20 metres which only just went over the bar.

Adelaide City’s hard work was rewarded with a goal just three minutes into the second half, and it was a rare moment of true quality in the box that led to it. Bianca Gray played in Dawber on the right-hand side of the area and the W-League star hit a glorious effort across Papanikitas into the left corner to give City the lead.

As the half wore on, chances became rare. The defensive organisation of both sides continued to be strong, and other than a flurry of opportunities in a ten-minute spell, there was a lack of quality in attempting to breach the backline stranglehold.

It was the period between the 70th and 80th minutes that saw three golden opportunities for Inter.

First, Inter was awarded a free kick on the left-hand edge of the box after Isobel Dahlen-Flight was adjudged to have fouled Rojas. Mina Nishitani stepped up and curled the set-piece narrowly wide of the right-hand post. Then, the impressive Khal Adam Khan got free and turned her defender beautifully, forcing a fantastic save from Jenner.

Less than sixty seconds later, Inter struck as a result of the sole piece of disappointing defensive work from City all night. Nishitani’s corner wasn’t cleared, allowing Khan to fire home from inside the six yard box.

There was further concern for Adelaide City when Chelsie Dawber went down on the edge of the box after a collision which required a long spell of treatment. The Adelaide United W-League striker carried on but needed further attention before the end of the game. City fans will be hoping that nothing serious has flared up.

The draw was a reward for City’s fine defensive efforts – if they could have combined that with a bit more pace in their attacks, then Inter could well have suffered their first defeat of the campaign.

The final game of the round saw unbeaten West Adelaide take on Adelaide Comets at TK Shutter Reserve.

West has enjoyed a bright start to 2021 with five wins from their opening six games and they are the joint top scorers in the league alongside Inter.

Comets have largely stepped up from a disappointing 2020 season but were to prove no match for West, whose 5-0 win saw them move to the summit of the SA NPLW, taking advantage of Salisbury Inter being held to a draw.

It was another impressive display from West, with the cream of their crop being Nicole Tilley, who was outstanding on their left side and had a hand in all of her team’s goals. Tilley scored one and created the other four, while Lara Kirkby also put in an eye-catching performance for the new league leaders.

West Adelaide took the lead after 23 minutes when Tilley’s run down the left ended with a shot at goal, which was parried by the Comets keeper into the path of Georgia Macri who couldn’t miss. Macri doubled her and West’s account two minutes before the break. Tilley showed her pace down the left once more and laid a glorious low cross into the path of Macri, who ran in at the far post to score.

Tilley got on the scoresheet herself after 48 minutes when she turned and hit a shot from the edge of the box which bounced under keeper Sian Fryer-McLaren. It was 4-0 when Tilley ran onto a low ball from the right and under severe pressure, Comets’ Elyse Moon put the ball into her own net from close range. The rout was completed with six minutes left when Tilley’s shot was parried and fell into the path of Jasmine Styles, who had an empty net to aim into.

West Adelaide will now face Salisbury Inter twice in the next fortnight – firstly next weekend in the last sixteen of the WNPL/WSL Cup, and then the following week in a blockbuster first v second league encounter.

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