The theme for Round 4 of the NSW NPL competition was goals, goals and more goals! Despite losing a game to a washout on the south coast, there were still 26 goals scored on Sunday, an average of more than five per game.
We were only ever going to choose one matchup as our featured game this week – the Festival of Football between two of the competition favourites, Sydney Olympic and APIA Leichhardt.
Sydney Olympic v APIA Leichhardt
Belmore Sportsground was the venue for an early season classic between Olympic and APIA, and these two highly talented teams split the points with a 3-3 draw.
Olympic’s Charlie Rule opened the scoring with an early double, before APIA forward Sophie Hoban levelled the scores with a brace of her own. Georgia Koutzoumis thought she had won the game for Olympic with a long range strike four minutes from the end of normal time, but Shea Connors would save the day for APIA with an 89th minute equaliser.
Sydney Olympic started brightly on their home turf, testing APIA goalkeeper Sophie Magus early on with shots from Rule and Cortnee Vine.
The first goal came on nine minutes, in a manner that will be familiar to Sydney FC fans. As she had done countless times over the last two A-League Women campaigns, Vine raced down the right flank and into the penalty area. Her cutback found Rule, who sent a venomous shot into the top corner, putting the home side 1-0 up.
Olympic didn’t let up after the opener and doubled their lead two minutes later. The hosts recycled possession from a corner kick, Taylor Ray setting up Winonah Heatley for a shot which cannoned off the crossbar. Rule picked up the scraps and fired home to make it 2-0.
Rule then became Olympic’s creator on 17 minutes, holding off a challenge and playing the ball to Vine, however the shot flew over the bar. It was the same two players involved in the next chance, midway through the first half, and Magus was again called into action, saving Vine’s left footed effort.
APIA deserve a lot of credit for hanging in there after Olympic threatened to run away with the contest. They pulled a goal back in the 27th minute when Kaitlin Kiparizov did brilliantly to win possession and find Hoban, who still had a lot to do when she received the ball. Hoban beat a defender and curled a shot in off the post, halving the deficit.
The visitors could even have found an equaliser on the half hour. Rhianna Pollicina used her trademark quick feet to skip past a tackle and force an acrobatic save from Olympic custodian Jada Whyman. With halftime approaching, Whyman made another smart save when Connors got on the end of Kiparizov’s cross.
However, Olympic hadn’t stopped threatening – between those two APIA chances, Rule almost completed a hat trick, shooting inches wide after a great pass from Heatley.
APIA looked in the mood as they came out of the dressing room for the second stanza, and they created a chance within seconds of the restart. Leah Davidson, Sarah Hunter and Hoban combined to set up Connors, but the shot was easily saved by Whyman.
The team in maroon kept that momentum and equalised on 55 minutes. Hunter played a one-two with Princess Ibini and then chipped a delightful pass over the top of the defence for Hoban. Whyman was quick off her line, but Hoban kept her composure to lob the advancing keeper and make it 2-2.
In the 65th minute, APIA had a chance to take the lead for the first time when Hoban stole possession and found Connors, but the American forward didn’t get clean contact on the ball. Three minutes later, Olympic went down the other end and Rule picked out Vine, but Magus made a great save to keep the scores level.
This was the start of a period where Olympic had a lot of possession, but the home side’s attack was matched by solid APIA defending, even with Vine looking dangerous every time she received the ball on Olympic’s right side.
Then with time running out, it looked like that pressure from the hosts had paid off. Koutzoumis had been on the field for less than ten minutes when she received a pass from Rule, evaded a tackle and fired a low shot into the net, putting Olympic 3-2 up in the 86th minute.
That was not the end of the drama, however. On 89 minutes, Kiparizov’s pass found its way to Connors, and the American atoned for her earlier miss, sprinting into the penalty area and beating Whyman from an acute angle.
The 3-3 draw means APIA stay in second place, two points behind leaders Macarthur Rams. Olympic are in eighth place, five points off the top, but with a game in hand on some of the teams above them.
Olympic can look forward to another home game next weekend – they host Emerging Jets on Saturday afternoon at Belmore Sportsground. Meanwhile, on Sunday APIA will make the short trip to Sydney University.
Elsewhere, there was another dramatic 3-3 draw at North Turramurra Recreation Area, a very successful away trip for Bankstown City, plus narrow wins for both Macarthur and Sydney University.
Sydney Olympic 3 (Rule 9’ 11’, Koutzoumis 86’)
APIA Leichhardt 3 (Hoban 27’ 55’, Connors 89’)
Sydney Olympic: Jada Whyman, Charlotte Mclean (c), Angelique Hristodoulou, Winonah Heatley, Teigan Collister, Taylor Ray, Charlie Rule, Claudia Cholakian (Georgia Koutzoumis 78’), Cortnee Vine, Sarah Yatim (Kiara De Domizio 74’), Aimee Phillips (Maddi Costanzo 53’)
Unused subs: Kate Anthonisz, Georgia Manos
APIA Leichhardt: Sophie Magus, Deborah-Anne De La Harpe, Claudia Cicco, Tori Tumeth, Kaitlin Kiparizov, Sarah Hunter (Estelle Fragale 57’), Leah Davidson, Rhianna Pollicina (c), Princess Ibini, Sophie Hoban, Shea Connors
Unused subs: Jessica Urquhart, Sarah Moore, Alexandra Tims, Isabella Di Sipio
Yellow cards: Claudia Cicco 73’, Tori Tumeth 90’
Around the Grounds
(Tuesday catchup game) Blacktown Spartans 1-0 Sydney University
(Thursday catchup game) Football NSW Institute 0-0 Manly United
Emerging Jets 1-7 Bankstown City
Macarthur Rams 2-1 Football NSW Institute
Northern Tigers 3-3 Manly United
Spirit FC 1-2 Sydney University
washout: Illawarra Stingrays v Blacktown Spartans
Table
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Macarthur Rams | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 9 |
| 2 | APIA Leichhardt | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 7 |
| 3 | Northern Tigers | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 7 |
| 4 | Blacktown Spartans | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 5 | Bankstown City | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 6 |
| 6 | Manly United | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Sydney University | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 8 | Sydney Olympic | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 4 |
| 9 | FNSW Institute | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 1 |
| 10 | Illawarra Stingrays | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 0 |
| 11 | Emerging Jets | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 9 | -8 | 0 |
| 12 | NWS Spirit FC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 13 | -10 | 0 |
Read more of our NSW NPL coverage here.
