Tia Stonehill’s brace gave MUM FC their first silverware of the season when they beat Balcatta FC 2-0 in the WA State Cup Final.
The winger has been in good touch in the league all season and her goals were the difference between the two teams in the scrappy affair at Inglewood Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Going into the game, league leaders MUM FC were red hot favourites to win the cup. However, they were wary that their opponents had already beaten them in a cup final this season when Balcatta took out the Night Series Final 2-1.
Any hint of nerves was eased almost immediately as Stonehill’s speculative cross was misjudged by Balcatta’s keeper Gabby Dal Busco. The ball sailed into the net to make the score 1-0 in the 1st minute.
What was always going to be a difficult task for Balcatta had just become even harder. They struggled to get the shock of conceding such an early goal out for their system, as MUM FC pressed to seal the game as early as possible.
Dal Busco was the busier of the two goalkeepers in the opening half, but Balcatta was slowly getting back into the game before Stonehill doubled the score in the 31st minute.
A through ball from Jaymee Gibbons released the MUM FC attacker. She had the strength to fight off Balcatta defender Ella Manso-Vukovich before tucking the ball past Dal Busco to score her second of the game.
Balcatta now had a mountain to climb but showed they were still in the game when Ashleigh Panaia had a shot turned onto the bar by Danelle Cornish late in the first half.
The second half saw MUM FC sit back and let Balcatta try to break them down and hit them on the break. Balcatta gave it their all and forced Cornish into making a number of saves, with Kim McCartney coming the closest when her low shot was scrambled away.
MUM FC’s Charli Wainwright had a chance to seal the win in the 76th minute, but her shot was just too high after being fed in by Stonehill.
MUM FC had one final chance to add a flourish to their win, but Dal Busco turned Grace Betti’s injury-time effort onto the post. The team were not too bothered by the saved shot – referee Stephen Knight blew the full-time whistle shortly after and they celebrated winning their first silverware of the season.
There were individual awards for the winners as well, with Tia Stonehill named player of the match. FA Hall of Fame inductee and former Matildas striker Sandra Brentnall awarded Stonehill her medal.
Speaking to Beyond 90 post-game, MUM FC’s coach Mark Jones said, “It was a scrappy game, it was a really scrappy game. We’ve played much better [before]. But it is a cup final, so people were nervous.
“To give Balcatta some credit, they worked hard, busted, and put themselves about. That’s the toughest game they’ve given us.”
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