NPLW WA Round 9 Review

Round nine of the NPLW WA represented an opportunity for the top two teams to put some distance between themselves and the chasing pack, as both MUM FC and Perth SC faced off against the bottom two teams in Curtin and Subiaco respectively. Meanwhile, it was third vs fifth and fourth vs sixth in the other two games as Redbacks hosted Balcatta and Fremantle travelled to Balga to take on the Hyundai NTC.

In the early kick-off, fourth placed NTC hosted Fremantle. The visitors were desperate not to drop any more points after their loss at home to Perth last week, but they were also wary of the young NTC side who handed them a 6-1 defeat earlier in the season.

The game was a cagey affair in the first half with neither team creating many chances, but NTC keeper Miranda Templeman had to be alert in the 12th minute when she saved bravely at the feet of Isabelle Bridger. Templeman was involved again on 17 minutes as she kept out Jamie Lee Gale. In the 42nd minute, Bridger broke the deadlock when she headed in Gale’s corner from the back post to send the visitors into the break 1-0 up.

The second half was very similar to the first, with the game being mainly played in the middle third of the field, but another set piece in the 56th minute sealed the game for Fremantle. It was from the same source and the same scorer, with Bridger again scoring from a corner. This one was a little less clear cut than the first as the ball seemed to hit Bridger rather than her making a clean strike, but there were no complaints from her delighted teammates.

The home team finally managed an effort on goal in the 65th minute when they nearly embarrassed Fremantle as they tried to play their way out from the back. Kate Armstrong stole the ball on the edge of the box and the ball broke free to Abbey Green, however her shot was gathered by Dayle Schroeder in the Fremantle goal.

The result lifts Fremantle into the top four and sees the NTC side drop down to sixth.

Just up the road from Celebration Park was a local derby as Northern Redbacks hosted long time rivals Balcatta SC. The game also pitched Perth Glory striker Caitlin Doeglas against her younger sister Melanie.

At the start of the round, Redbacks were in third spot and five points behind the leaders whilst Balcatta were back in fifth a further three points behind. This meant neither side could afford to drop points if they were to entertain any hopes at all of catching MUM FC.

Redbacks created the first clear chance in the fourth minute when Melanie Doeglas latched onto a lovely through ball from ex-Matilda Kim Carroll. She broke free of the defence but her cross was cleared before the rapidly arriving Laura Continibali could get to it. Balcatta then had a chance of their own on 12 minutes when a misplaced pass from Doeglas sent Ashleigh Pannata free, but Redbacks keeper Maya Diederichsen was out quickly to save her teammate’s blushes.

Back came Redbacks, and after some neat play between Melanie Doeglas and Sarah Carroll, Doeglas sent over a cross that evaded the Balcatta defence. Emma McMurdo arrived at the back post but couldn’t quite get enough contact on the ball, with it spinning up and over the bar. McMurdo then turned provider in the 26th minute as she sent a long ball over the Balcatta defence to Carroll. Last season’s golden boot winner took a great first touch and with her second sent the ball fizzing into the Balcatta net to make it 1-0. The first half action continued when Balcatta forced a great save from Diederichsen on 32 minutes, and in the 41st minute Pannata’s shot went over the bar after a cross from Caitlin Doeglas.

The second half continued in much the same vein, but the visitors had more of the play this time with Caitlin Doeglas exerting more influence. It was still looking like Redbacks would take all three points though, as Kim Carroll and fellow centre back Emily Dunn were standing firm. The complexion of the game changed in the 83rd minute when Epril Nossent sent a looping shot (or cross!) from long range into the Redbacks net. Whether it was intended as a shot or not didn’t matter and the visitors celebrated with delight.

The draw keeps Redbacks in the top four but has severely dented their hopes of winning back to back titles. Balcatta meanwhile is just outside the top four, but they’re still very much in contention as they’re only one point back from fourth-placed Fremantle.

At Subiaco, the home team hosted a Perth SC side who were buoyant after last week’s hard-fought win against Fremantle.

It didn’t take long for the second placed team to assert their authority on the game as Perth raced to a two goal lead inside the first seven minutes. Captain Jaime Duncanson opened the scoring inside 60 seconds after a neat through ball bypassed the Subiaco defence and allowed her to finish nicely. The second goal arrived in the sixth minute when Perth robbed Subiaco of possession while they were trying to play out from the back. Abbey Meakins fed the ball to Duncanson whose snapshot from the edge of the box found the corner of the net.

A shell-shocked Subiaco then slowly tried to pull themselves back into the game, but it wasn’t until the 40th minute that they were able to trouble the Perth defence. A fine solo run from Halle Williams ended when she lifted her shot just over the bar.

Any hopes of a comeback were snuffed out in the 55th minute when a corner was headed home by Melissa Shepherd to make the score 3-0, and it was 4-0 on 58 minutes when Duncanson completed her hat-trick with a great strike from the edge of the box into the top corner. Duncanson wasn’t finished yet though, and capped off a fantastic individual display with her fourth and Perth’s fifth of the game in the 65th minute. A fine passing move between Katie Holtham and Meakins freed Duncanson and she finished with aplomb from an almost identical position to the one she scored her third from.

This result creates a four point gap between Perth and third placed Redbacks, and keeps them three points behind MUM FC who they face in a tasty game in the next round.

The final game of the round was the clash between the two university teams, with Curtin hosting MUM FC. On paper, this looked like it would be a tough game for Curtin, whilst MUM FC would be hoping to maintain the gap they had opened between themselves and the rest of the league.

It only took MUM FC three minutes to open their account when a corner bounced off Curtin defender Jade Paul into the net. MUM FC then doubled their lead in the 12th minute when Poppy Hooks crossed the ball into the box from the right. Leading goalscorer Kat Jukic outjumped the Curtin defence and goalkeeper Stacey Cavilll to head home. Unfortunately for Cavill she injured herself as she landed awkwardly after her jump and was in obvious distress as she lay on the ground. She was stretchered off the field and it’s hoped that her injury is not as serious as it looked. This required a rejig for Curtin and Rochelle Hondema came on as a replacement keeper.

To Curtin’s credit, they regrouped from this blow and struck in the 22nd minute when a Penelope Clayton free kick from fully 25 yards sailed over Danelle Cornish’s head into the corner to make the score 2-1.

The league leaders then turned the screws and dominated for the remainder of the game, peppering the Curtin goal with shots, and only a terrific save by Hondema on 37 minutes prevented Ellie La Monte from increasing MUM’s lead. It was only a matter of time before the third goal arrived though, and the only surprise was that it took until first half injury time for it to come. Charli Cartwright’s cross from the right found Jukic whose first touch took her into space, and then with her second she lashed a left footed shot into the roof of the net.

MUM continued to pressure the Curtin defence in the second half and they scored a fourth in the 66th minute when a corner was neatly side-footed into the net by Thalia Organ. A fifth goal arrived on 87 minutes when Jaymee Gibbons’s shot somehow managed to find a gap in a crowded penalty area to finish in the back of the net. Remarkably this was the third goal in the match to come from a corner, adding to the three goals scored from corners in other games.

There was just enough time for Curtin to score a late consolation goal in the 92nd minute. Clayton produced an excellent run down the right flank and her cross found its way to Nina Boorman who put the ball away.

MUM now sit three points clear of second placed Perth who they play next week, and a win in that game could go a long way towards sealing the title for them with just four rounds remaining after next week.

LADDER

Round 10 Fixtures (4th & 6th Sept)

MUM FC vs Perth SC (4th Sept)
Hyundai NTC vs Subiaco AFC
Balcatta FC vs Curtin University
Fremantle City vs Northern Redbacks

Read more NPLW WA coverage here.