2023 NPLW WA Round 15 Review

It was another shortened round of the NPLW with the Hyundai NTC again not playing this weekend to allow for recovery from the National NTC challenge last week, so there were just three games, but all of them provided plenty of entertainment and drama. 

The top two played a highly absorbing game which saw Perth RedStar prevail, whilst both Balcatta Etna and MUM FC lost their games and with it their chances to move into the top four.

FREMANTLE CITY 1 – 2 PERTH REDSTAR FC

Following their midweek loss in the State Cup semi-final, the home team were looking to bounce back straight away but faced a formidable opponent in Perth RedStar who were on an unbeaten 12-game streak. The visitors had also been given the luxury of a week’s break due to their Round 14 game against the Hyundai NTC being postponed, whilst the home team were playing their third game in a week.

RedStar same out of the block the quickest and Olivia Wood nearly opened the scoring inside the first two minutes after being cleverly played in by Renee Leota, but her shot was straight into the arms of Danelle Cornish in the Fremantle goal.

Fremantle shook off that early scare to assert some dominance and they created the next major chance when a Carys Hawkins header from a Jamie-Lee Gale corner was cleared off the line by Andreia Teixeira in the 10th minute. 

Tash Rigby then let fly from outside of the box in the 19th minute, but her shot hit the post and bounced away. At this stage, Fremantle were creating more chances with RedStar doing the majority of the defending but the balance slowly shifted as the half went on with first Chiori Ikeda and Wood going close.

The opening goal came in the 31st minute when Bronwyn Studman played a long ball out from just inside the RedStar half. The ball cleared the Fremantle defence and it looked as though Cornish would come and collect, but Leota nipped in to steal it and rolled the ball into an empty net to make it 1-0.

RedStar thought they had doubled the score in the 39th minute when Chiori Ikeda’s header from a Reina Kagami corner found its way into the net but an offside flag ruled it out. Leota then crashed a shot against a post in the 41st minute as RedStar finished the half strongly.

The second half started with both teams having early chances. Jay Coleman flashed a shot over the bar in the 46th minute and then Laura Waltman went even closer in the 50th with a strike that crashed off the bar.

The game then became a little tighter with RedStar blocking the midfield and breaking with menace, whilst Fremantle were struggling to put any sustained pressure on the meanest defence in the league.

One of those breaks in the 80th minute saw Wood released down the line by Coleman. With few of her teammates in support, the young winger took the opportunity to send a ball in towards the Fremantle goal and it drifted over the head of Cornish into the net to make it 2-0 to the obvious delight of her teammates and the RedStar bench.

With nothing left to lose, Fremantle stepped up the pressure in an attempt to get something out of the game and stay in the title hunt.

They forced a series of corners in injury time and from one of those the ball was bundled over the line via a Kim Carroll deflection to make the final score 2-1.

The win for RedStar leaves them seven points clear of Fremantle, who slipped to third place due to results elsewhere, and five points ahead of second-placed Perth SC with a game in hand on both teams. They were made to work hard for this win against a spirited Fremantle but they now hold the upper hand in the title race. They next face MUM FC on the synthetic pitch at Besteam and coach Carlos Vega-Mena will not allow them to take anything for granted as they continue their push for back-to-back titles.

Fremantle put in a performance that must have pleased coach Faye Chambers, but they must now pick themselves up and get ready for another high-intensity clash next weekend when they face a Perth SC side who are in red hot form. If they lose that one and RedStar win against MUM then their chances of winning their first-ever NPLW title will be very slim indeed.

BALCATTA ETNA 1 – 4 PERTH SC

Going into this game, Balcatta knew that a win would see them jump into the top four, whilst a win for Perth SC and a favourable result in the Fremantle vs RedStar game would allow Perth SC to move into second spot, so there was a lot riding on this derby between the two Italian clubs.

The opening 15 minutes were fairly even, with Balcatta having the best chance to open the scoring in the 11th minute when Tia Stonehill went one on one with Perth SC goalkeeper Becky Bennett, but the Perth stopper pulled off a great save to keep the score at 0-0.

Slowly but surely Perth started to gain the upper hand and they opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Poppie Hooks scored from a Jamie Duncanson corner.

They then doubled the lead in the 33rd minute in the same manner with Hooks heading home another corner, this time from Ella Lincoln. A third goal in the 38th minute then seemed to effectively seal the three points for Perth when Jess Flannery was given far too much room outside the box and she fired a right-footed shot that nestled in the bottom corner of the Balcatta net. 

Balcatta pulled one back in the 42nd minute via a penalty after Hooks dragged Stonehill down in the box. Kim McCartney stepped up and despatched the kick to make the score 3-1 and give Balcatta a glimmer of hope of staging a comeback.

That hope was promptly extinguished in 1st half-injury time when Perth scored their fourth. Gemma Craine picked up the ball just outside the penalty area and then drove in towards the six-yard box before squaring the ball to give Duncanson an easy tap-in.

A remarkable five goals scored in 25 minutes left Perth with a comfortable lead at half time and they never really looked like they were going to surrender it during the second half.

The win, and Fremantle’s loss, elevates Perth SC into second spot five points behind Perth RedStar who have a game in hand. Their next opponents are Fremantle and coach Peter Rakic will know they can’t afford any slip-ups at all if they are to chase down the leaders. The injury list continues to grow for Perth with Abbey Meakins and Liana Cook now out for lengthy spells, and with Cameron Barreiro likely to return to her college side in America very soon, Rakic is having to dive deeper and deeper into his 21s to get a side on the pitch. His team are showing great fortitude and have strung together an impressive run of results but next week will be a very tough test for them.

Balcatta Etna will be bitterly disappointed with this result as it keeps them in fifth position, two points behind Hyundai NTC and having played a game more. They face NTC in their next game and can put themselves firmly back into finals contention with a win, but a loss will seriously dent their top-four hopes.

SUBIACO AFC 3 – 2 MUM FC

MUM went into this game full of confidence after their mid-week semi-final victory in the State Cup against Fremantle City and knew that a win and a favourable result in the Balcatta Etna vs Perth SC game would see them move back into the top four.

They faced a Subiaco side that had just suffered two successive 7-0 defeats and had only won twice in the season so far, so the odds were heavily in favour of a win by the visitors. On the plus side, Subiaco welcomed back coach Greg Farrell after a two-week absence.

Those odds firmed even more when, in the 27th minute, MUM FC took the lead. Subiaco failed to clear the ball which eventually found its way to Clara Hoarau just outside the box and her curling effort evaded the dive of Annie Leyland in the Subiaco goal to make it 1-0. Leyland is the fifth goalkeeper used by Subiaco during the campaign which highlights the issues with injuries they have had in this key position.

The lead only lasted five minutes though as Marianna Tabain scored her eighth goal of the season for the equaliser. A driving run from Savannah Olsthoorn took her from deep inside her own half towards the MUM FC penalty area. She delivered a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Tabain who made no mistake with a delightfully curled shot into the corner of the net.

Olsthoorn was again heavily involved in Subiaco’s second goal in the 52nd minute when she went on another long run, this time down the left wing. She was deep inside the MUM FC half when she pulled the ball back to Frankie Murray, who turned the ball inside to Dakota Van-Vugt to finish with aplomb into the top corner to score her fifth of the season and make the score 2-1.

MUM’s attempts to get an equaliser were frustrated by some resolute Subiaco defending, who also continued to pose a threat on the counterattack. An injury to MUM’s Danielle Brown forced her from the field in the 80th minute leaving her team down to 10 players and, at this point, it looked as though the three points were going to Subiaco.

There was still time for a twist in the tale though and it arrived in a frantic six minutes of injury time.

In the 90th minute Subiaco coach Farrell made a substitution designed to take time off the clock when Ingrid Gomez Basallo came on for Murray, and it really looked as though the game was done and dusted.

However, a free kick in the 4th minute of added time changed the complexion of the game entirely. Charli Wainwright hit a high ball deep into the box that Subiaco didn’t deal with and Nicolina Ierino applied the last touch to a mad scramble that ended up with the ball in the net to make it 3-3, and surely earn a point for MUM FC.

There was still more drama to come though when Subiaco scored a dramatic winner from a corner in the sixth minute of added time. Tabain floated the ball in and substitute Basallo was on hand to steer the ball over the line, earning her team the three points and capping off a remarkable turnaround.

The defeat will be a bitter pill for MUM FC to swallow who must have been thinking that they would earn three points against a team so badly beaten in the last two games, but football can produce unexpected results and this proved to be the case on Sunday. MUM are still just two points behind Hyundai NTC in fourth place but they have played two games more and next face Perth RedStar. Anything other than three points in that game will be a severe blow to their top-four aspirations.

Subiaco will be delighted with the result as they produced a display of real grit and determination. There is little chance of them playing finals football, but at least they can prepare for their game against Curtin knowing they now have the chance to get some momentum going for the final seven games of their campaign.

Click here for the Round 15 goal highlights.

League Standings after NPLW WA Round 15

Round 16 Fixtures

Friday 21st July
MUM FC vs PERTH REDSTAR FC – Besteam Stadium 7:30 pm
CURTIN UNIVERSITY FC vs SUBIAO AFC – Edinburgh Oval 7:30 pm

Sunday 23rd July
FREMANTLE CITY vs PERTH SC – Hilton Park 3:00 pm
HYUNDAI NTC vs BALCATTA ETNA FC  – E&D Litis Stadium 3:00 pm

GOLDEN BOOT STANDINGS

15 – Tia Stonehill (Balcatta Etna FC)
14 – Reina Kagami (Perth RedStar FC)
12 – Samantha Mathers (MUM FC)
10- Jamie Duncanson (Perth SC)

Click here for more NPLW WA coverage.