There was finally some sunshine across Sydney as winter’s icy grip tightened around the Harbour City, but for those that did venture out into the Antarctic chill there was plenty of brilliant NPL Women’s football to keep them company.
This week’s match of the round takes us to Belmore in Sydney’s inner southwest for the clash between star-studded Sydney Olympic and table-topping Northern Tigers.
Sydney Olympic v Northern Tigers
Northern Tigers’ undefeated streak now stretches an incredible 12 months following the side’s 1-1 draw with Sydney Olympic at Peter Moore Field on Sunday night.
A goal apiece from Tigers winger Ashlee Brodigan and Olympic defender Jess Frampton saw honours finish even in Belmore, further extending Jake Stephenson’s side’s reign atop the NPL Women’s NSW table.
Having not tasted defeat since 6 June 2021, eagle-eyed fans would not have been surprised to see Tigers open the scoring through Brodigan, finding herself in the perfect spot to receive a selfless square pass from Shadeene Evans after the Borroloola-born striker strode onto Hannah McNulty’s brilliant through-ball and rounded Olympic ‘keeper Jada Whyman after just eight minutes.
Immediately looking to restore parity, the home side were millimetres away from doing so only five minutes later after Cortnee Vine cut a pass back from the right flank to Charlotte McLean, whose looping, curling shot had Morgan Aquino beaten all-ends-up but thudded back off the top of the bar to safety.
Olympic pressed forward in waves and once again went close through midfielder Angelique Hristodoulou, whose long-distance shot was carefully watched by Tigers stopper Morgan Aquino before being easily claimed.
Olympic wouldn’t have to wait much longer for the equaliser, and while it wasn’t the prettiest finish, they don’t draw pictures on the scoreboard. Collecting Claudia Bunge’s clearing header on the right flank, Hristodoulou sent a looping cross into the mix only to find Frampton on the six-yard box, and though her shot was originally saved well down low, neither Aquino nor her teammates could prevent it slithering over the line with 10 minutes of the first half to play.
Olympic’s attacking verve continued into the second 45, and barely a minute after the restart an in-swinging corner from the newly-returned Mackenzie Hawkesby forced a brilliant punching save from Aquino, backpedalling and clearing off her line before her front-post defender could clear away.
Eight minutes later Vine was in for Olympic again, found amongst the Tigers defence by a marauding McLean, whose through-ball had done all the hard work only for its recipient to send her shot wide of an open goal.
Tigers would have their own efforts miraculously saved just past the hour mark, as Malia Steinmetz and Brodigan combined to counter-attack after a poor clearance, but Whyman redeemed herself immediately as she palmed the Tigers’ goalscorer’s attempted chip away from danger.
With five minutes of regular time remaining, Olympic had its best opportunity to take all three points as Frampton found Hawkesby in space outside the Tigers’ box. After her slide-rule pass found Vine one-on-one with Aquino, Hawkesby could only watch as Vine overran the pass and allowed Aquino to pounce on her own parry, sealing a point apiece for two teams that will be chasing silverware in a few months’ time.
Sydney Olympic 1 (Brodigan 10′)
Northern Tigers 1 (Frampton 35′)
Sydney Olympic: Jada Whyman; Jess Frampton (Gisella Pipino 87′), Winonah Heatley, Angelique Hristodoulou, Sarah Yatim; Taylor Ray, Charlotte McLean, Mackenzie Hawkesby; Teigan Collister, Claudia Cholakian, Cortnee Vine.
Unused subs: Georgia Manos, Kiara de Domizio, Kate Anthonisz, Georgia Koutzoumis.
Yellow cards: Georgia Manos 89′
Northern Tigers: Morgan Aquino; Ariella Cabezas, Ella Tonkin (Beth Bernardi 45′), Claudia Bunge, Josie Wilson; Isabel Gomez, Maddie Bart, Malia Steinmetz; Hannah McNulty, Shadeene Evans (Abbey Green 43′), Ashlee Brodigan.
Unused subs: Annalise Brewster, Tess Rickard, Sabine Montenegro.
Yellow cards: Isabel Gomez 82′, Maddie Bart 87′
Around the Grounds
Emerging Jets 0 Northern Tigers 5 at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility (Wednesday)
Sydney University 1 Football NSW Institute 0 at Sydney University Football Ground (Wednesday)
Bankstown City 1 APIA Leichhardt 0 at Jensen Park
Football NSW Institute 1 NWS Spirit 0 at Valentine Sports Park
Blacktown Spartans 1 Macarthur Rams 2 at Blacktown Football Park
Manly United 0 Sydney University 0 at Cromer Park
Illawarra Stingrays 2 Emerging Jets 1 at Seymour Shaw Park
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Tigers | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 10 | +9 | 19 |
| Sydney University | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 17 |
| Macarthur Rams | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 16 |
| Sydney Olympic | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 9 | +10 | 14 |
| Blacktown Spartans | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 14 |
| Manly United | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 12 |
| Bankstown City | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 13 | +3 | 11 |
| APIA Leichhardt | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 11 |
| Illawarra Stingrays | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 8 |
| Football NSW Institute | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 6 |
| NWS Spirit | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 26 | -16 | 4 |
| Emerging Jets | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 31 | -24 | 1 |
Read more of our NSW NPL coverage here.
