It’s been a wet and wild few weeks in NSW, and while the competition’s best young players escaped the wintry conditions for the AFF Championships in the Philippines, their teammates have been left with chattering teeth and frozen half-time sports drinks.
This week the action takes us to a very chilly Leichhardt as high-flying APIA host Sydney Olympic at Lambert Park.
APIA Leichhardt vs Sydney Olympic
APIA Leichhardt solidified second position on the NSW NPL Womens ladder with a hard-fought 2-1 win against Sydney Olympic at Lambert Park on Sunday evening.
Olympic wingback Gisella Pipino’s long-distance goal cancelled out Shea Connors’ opener after 19 minutes, only for newly-returned Nickoletta Flannery to secure all three points for the home team five minutes from time.
With a number of players for both sides missing through international duty or injury, including Princess Ibini, Cortnee Vine, Mackenzie Hawkesby and Claudia Cholakian, this encounter looked to be one for throwing out the form book, and with so many unfamiliar names on the team sheet it as no wonder the teams took time settling into their usual rhythm, despite Connors going close inside 150 seconds of the opening whistle.
In fact, there’d been almost 20 minutes played before either goalkeeper was tested, with Rhianna Pollicina drawing a smart save from Jada Whyman from an outside-of-the-foot shot just beyond the Olympic penalty area.
However APIA were picking the ball out of their net barely 60 seconds later after Pipino scored one of the great lobbed goals you’re ever likely to see, sending Sarah Langman sprawling back into the side netting as she scrambled to keep the ball from slipping beneath her crossbar.
The visitors would be doing some soul-searching of their own just eight minutes later after Connors equalised, making the most of Deborah-Anne de la Harpe’s hard-won ball in midfield to dissect, disrespect and discombobulate Olympic’s centre-half pairing of Charlotte McLean and Ebony McCue-Shore inside their own penalty area before slotting beyond Jada Whyman from close range.
With parity restored and fresh legs on the bench, APIA continued to push for a second after half-time, but wouldn’t test Whyman again until 20 minutes from the final whistle, with Connors again confounding defenders at the left corner of the Olympic 18-yard box before stinging the keeper’s palms and forcing a corner.
The home side would finally find the winner a quarter-hour later through the elusive Flannery; found wide on the left by Pollicina, de la Harpe burst into space behind the tiring Pipino before whipping a square pass to the back post for the Canberra United winger to tap in untouched and ensure her side would finish the weekend just six points from top spot.
APIA Leichhardt 2 (Connors 27’ Flannery 86’)
Sydney Olympic 1 (Pipino 19’)
APIA Leichhardt: Sarah Langman; Deborah-Anne de la Harpe, Alexandra Tims, Sarah Hunter (Madeleine Mirković 61’), Claudia Cicco, Nickoletta Flannery; Estelle Fragale, Leah Davidson (Lauren Johnson 79’), Rhianna Pollicina; Shea Connors, Sophie Hoban.
Unused subs: Sophie Magus, Sarah Urquhart, Kaitlin Kiparizov, Ciara Casamento.
Yellow card: Claudia Cicco 44’
Sydney Olympic: Jada Whyman; Jess Frampton, Charlotte McLean, Ebony McCue-Shore, Gisella Pipino; Angelique Hristodoulou, Georgia Koutzoumis, Georgia Manos; Eden Holmes, Teigan Collister, Sarah Yatim.
Unused subs: Olga Gasteratos, Megan Grew, Kristy Kunovski.
Yellow card: Sarah Yatim 45’
Around the Grounds
Blacktown Spartans 2 Illawarra Stingrays 3 at Blacktown Football Park
Manly United 1 Northern Tigers 1 at Cromer Park
Sydney University SFC 1 NWS Spirit 0 at Valentine Sports Park
Football NSW Institute 0 Macarthur Rams 3 at Valentine Sports Park
Bankstown City 2 Emerging Jets 0 at Jensen Park
Illawarra Stingrays 2 Blacktown Spartans 1 at Sir Ian McLennan Oval (Wednesday night)
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Sydney University | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 6 | +15 | 33 |
| APIA Leichhardt | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 28 | 16 | +12 | 27 |
| Northern Tigers | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 30 | 16 | +14 | 26 |
| Macarthur Rams | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 24 | 15 | +9 | 24 |
| Illawarra Stingrays | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 20 | -2 | 19 |
| Sydney Olympic | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 13 | +12 | 18 |
| Manly United | 14 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 26 | 21 | +5 | 18 |
| Bankstown City | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 18 | +2 | 18 |
| Blacktown Spartans | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 19 | -1 | 18 |
| NWS Spirit | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 21 | 32 | -11 | 14 |
| Football NSW Institute | 15 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 23 | -12 | 11 |
| Emerging Jets | 14 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 11 | 54 | -43 | 1 |
Read more of our NSW NPL coverage here.
