It’s been a momentous week in the NSW NPL competition. Before the weekend had even started, Sydney University sealed their fourth consecutive Premiership by defeating Sydney Olympic 2-1 in a Thursday night catchup game – congratulations to head coach Emily Husband, the support staff and all the players.
Sunday’s set of games provided all the drama spectators dream of late in the season – comebacks, upsets and a couple of five goal thrillers kept us all captivated.
Our featured game took place in Sydney’s Inner West as two finals contenders faced off at historic Lambert Park – APIA Leichhardt and Bankstown City Lions.
APIA Leichhardt v Bankstown City
Bankstown City’s race towards the top four gathered momentum on Sunday after a highly impressive 2-0 away win over APIA. Goals from Siobhan Edwards and Daisy Arrowsmith ensured a ninth victory of the season for the Lions – one more than the club had earned in the previous three seasons combined.
The opening stages were cagey and for a while things weren’t quite clicking in attack for either side. That all changed on 11 minutes when Demi Koulizakis lifted a perfect pass over the top for Edwards, who coolly finished with the outside of her boot, leaving APIA shotstopper Sarah Langman helpless.
The pace of the Edwards-Arrowsmith strike partnership was causing problems and a minute later Bankstown could have scored a second. Edwards crossed from the left and Arrowsmith helped the ball towards Koulizakis, but her effort wasn’t powerful enough to trouble Langman.
APIA’s first effort on goal didn’t arrive until the 20 minute mark, when Kaitlyn Torpey’s 25 yard strike was saved by Brianna Edwards. The Bankstown City custodian was needed again in the 27th minute when Princess Ibini and Sophie Hoban exchanged passes, with Edwards rushing off her line quickly and beating Ibini to the ball.
After that moment, the Lions went down the other end and Paige Hayward found Arrowsmith, who spun away from a challenge, but her shot from an acute angle was saved by Langman.
By now, the general pattern of the game had been established. Bankstown City were happy to let APIA have the ball for long periods, resulting in plenty of touches for APIA’s defenders. Ibini would often drift inside from her left midfield position to add attacking support in central areas, however the Lions stayed compact and blocked the path to goal. The best example of this defensive work rate came in first half stoppage time when Skye Casacchia threw herself at Sophie Hoban’s shot, ending a promising APIA passing move.
Four minutes after the restart, Hayward showed more attacking enterprise, cutting in from the right flank and firing a shot over Langman’s crossbar. The visitors continued to look dangerous whenever they won possession, and on 57 minutes Koulizakis used her body well to make space before shooting across the face of goal.
As the game entered the final half hour, APIA took even more control of possession and territory. Bankstown City started to drop deeper, at times sitting in a block on the edge of their own area. In the 66th minute, Deborah-Anne de la Harpe played the ball into space and Nicki Flannery dinked the ball over Edwards … but also wide of the target.
Things would get frantic on 76 minutes when Edwards punched Torpey’s cross straight to Flannery, but Baxter Thew was on hand to clear the resulting shot off the goal line. Thew was well placed again two minutes later, blocking Ibini’s shot after APIA’s no. 11 had beaten four opponents.
By this stage, the fatigued Lions were often just looking to clear the danger when they had the ball, instead of finding a teammate to build spells of possession and give themselves a breather. They needed something to relieve APIA’s incessant pressure … and they got it in the 87th minute. Koulizakis passed down the right flank for Arrowsmith and Bankstown City’s top scorer still had enough energy to beat Ralston to the ball, before shaking off the APIA centre back and blasting an unstoppable shot past Langman.
This win means Bankstown City are only three points away from a coveted top four spot. The Lions have a crowded schedule, facing Sydney Olympic on Thursday night before backing up to host Manly on Sunday – this week could decide whether or not the Lions play finals football. Meanwhile, APIA’s next assignment is a trip up the freeway and a game against Emerging Jets.
In the day’s other games, Olympic recovered from conceding early to earn the points in North Turramurra and Manly shocked Sydney University with a second half comeback at Valentine Sports Park, while both Macarthur Rams and NWS Spirit made home field advantage count in their games.
There was also a heartwarming result at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility as Emerging Jets won for the first time in almost two years, defeating Illawarra Stingrays thanks to an 85th minute winner from Junior Matilda Josie Allan.
APIA Leichhardt 0
Bankstown City 2 (Siobhan Edwards 11’, Daisy Arrowsmith 87’)
APIA Leichhardt: Sarah Langman, Claudia Cicco, Elizabeth Ralston, Deborah-Anne de la Harpe, Kaitlyn Torpey, Rhianna Pollicina (c), Estelle Fragale (Madeleine Mirkovic 84’), Princess Ibini, Nickoletta Flannery, Shea Connors, Sophie Hoban
Unused substitutes: Sophie Magus, Alexandra Tims, Kaitlin Kiparizov, Lauren Johnson, Sarah Moore
Bankstown City: Brianna Edwards, Paige Hayward, Tiana Jaber, Baxter Thew, Stephanie Ambrose, Liana Danaskos (c), Skye Casacchia, Demi Koulizakis, Alexia Karrys-Stahl (Lexie Moreno 82’), Daisy Arrowsmith, Siobhan Edwards (Kate McPherson 89’)
Unused substitutes: Stephanie Grimbilos, Ivana Galic, Jessica Fallah
Around the Grounds
(Wednesday) Illawarra Stingrays 1-2 Bankstown City
(Thursday) Sydney Olympic 1-2 Sydney University
Emerging Jets 3-2 Illawarra Stingrays
Macarthur Rams 2-0 Blacktown Spartans
Northern Tigers 1-2 Sydney Olympic
NWS Spirit 3-2 FNSW Institute
Sydney University 1-2 Manly United
Table
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Sydney University | 20 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 33 | 11 | 22 | 48 |
| 2 | Macarthur Rams | 20 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 40 | 23 | 17 | 37 |
| 3 | Northern Tigers | 20 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 43 | 24 | 19 | 35 |
| 4 | APIA Leichhardt | 20 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 40 | 25 | 15 | 34 |
| 5 | Manly United | 20 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 38 | 28 | 10 | 31 |
| 6 | Bankstown City | 19 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 30 | 26 | 4 | 31 |
| 7 | Sydney Olympic | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 36 | 21 | 15 | 30 |
| 8 | Blacktown Spartans | 20 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 22 | 33 | -11 | 21 |
| 9 | Illawarra Stingrays | 18 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 26 | 33 | -7 | 20 |
| 10 | NWS Spirit | 20 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 28 | 42 | -14 | 19 |
| 11 | Football NSW Institute | 19 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 31 | -15 | 14 |
| 12 | Emerging Jets | 20 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 16 | 71 | -55 | 4 |
Read more of our NSW NPL coverage here.
