Last weekend saw a nail-biting conclusion to the NSW NPLW1 finals race. Premiers Sydney University and second placed Sydney Olympic had already secured their spot in the four team finals series, as had third placed Manly United (barring a heavy final round defeat). As we entered the last set of regular season games, three teams – Blacktown Spartans, APIA Leichhardt and Northern Tigers – were in the running for the sole remaining semi-finals berth.

The Spartans knew that a win would be enough, while a draw would also be sufficient if APIA failed to beat Manly. For APIA, their only realistic chance was to win and hope that Spartans didn’t do likewise against Olympic. Northern Tigers had the most unlikely task: they needed Spartans to lose and APIA to do no better than a draw, while simultaneously defeating Macarthur Rams by enough goals to finish with superior goal difference to their rivals.

The similarity of the three teams’ for-and-against meant that it was possible for two (or all three) of these teams to finish with both the same points total and same goal difference, in which case goals scored would be used as a tiebreaker.

We knew it would be dramatic … but none of us could have foreseen what Super Sunday would bring.

Manly United v APIA Leichhardt

At sunny Cromer Park, Manly United put APIA’s first NPLW1 season to bed with goals from Sunny Franco, Remy Siemsen and Tara Andrews seeing the home side cement their spot in the semi-finals.

A tense first-half saw the score remain goal-less, largely due to the efforts of APIA ‘keeper Sophie Magus. After drawing a penalty at the feet of Teigen Allen, Remy Siemsen’s effort from the spot was saved by an outstretched Magus, who neatly timed her dive and prevented the ball from ending up in the bottom left corner of the goal.

Though they retained pockets of possession in the first half, APIA’s vision was lacking. Manly found their groove as they settled into the game, with coach Chris Williams pulling Siemsen back into a playmaker position while Tara Andrews headed the attack.

Despite the miss, goals would come flying for the home side after the 50th minute. On the counter-attack, Siemsen sliced the ball from well behind the halfway line to Sunny Franco up front, who used her pace to cut inside down the right flank, shirking Alexandra Tims on the run. Franco’s clean strike across Magus into the goal’s bottom left corner saw Manly one step closer to a semi-finals berth.

Only four minutes later, Andrews controlled a high ball on the central edge of the box and struck it on the volley into the back of the net. With the game all but in their pockets, Manly were now looking to improve their goal difference for a shot at hosting a semi-final.

Their momentum only picked up from here with Siemsen hungry to score and forcing a spectacular save from Magus off her line. The APIA keeper continued this form when she blocked a long range shot by Claudia Cholakian, diving a second time to block the close-range rebound from Franco.

Siemsen finally got her goal when she managed to tap the ball in from close range, capitalising on the confusion between Tims and Allen guarding the ball for Magus in the box.

In midfield, APIA struggled to retain possession and make passes. Despite some early pieces of good link-up between Georgia Yeoman-Dale and Ash Palombi, they couldn’t break the strong back line of Manly defenders Corinne Winkler, Ally Green, Nicole Stuart and Cassidy Davis.

Now fighting for a shot at the 2020 season Golden Boot, Andrews tapped home a fourth and final goal for the home team after a ricochet in the box on the end of a corner played short and swung in by Green.

An exciting game that marked a disappointing end to APIA’s debut NPLW1 season, Manly are not to be underestimated as they look towards a spot in the grand final.

Manly United 4 (Tara Andrews 56′ 78′, Sunny Franco 52′, Remy Siemsen 75′)
APIA Leichhardt 0

Manly: Tara Andrews, Claudia Cholakian (Jane Vanzino 15’), Elizabeth Copus-Brown, Cassidy Davis, Sunny Franco (Emily Bastow 61’), Ally Green, Emily Minett (Kahli Johnson 71’), Remy Siemsen, Nicole Simonsen, Nicole Stuart, Corinne Winkler.

APIA: Sophie Magus, Teigen Allen (yellow card 19′), Jennifer Bennett, Amy Dahdah (Tara Pender 61’), Deborah-Anne de la Harpe, Alexandra Tims, Jennifer Bisset, Rhianna Pollicina, Ashleigh Palombi (Bethany McGhee 61’); Princess Ibini, Georgia Yeoman-Dale (Julia De Angelis 78’).

Blacktown Spartans v Sydney Olympic

Two late, late goals from substitute Cortnee Vine saw Sydney Olympic defeat Blacktown Spartans 3-1 at Blacktown Football Park in Rooty Hill, helping the side secure second place and a home semi-final.

A late equaliser from Candace Sciberras cancelled out Mackenzie Hawkesby’s second-half opener, before Vine’s late heroics sent Blacktown crashing out of the playoff race, a result made all the more difficult to take after experienced goalkeeper Casey Dumont was forced from the field with a ruptured Achilles tendon.

With Olympic having already secured a finals berth, all the Belmore club had to play for was a home semi final, while their hosts had it all to do, as only a win guaranteed them a place in the knockout rounds.

Blacktown started the brighter of the two sides, with winger Sciberras finding herself on the end of a brilliant tight passing sequence after just seven minutes, only to scuff her shot straight into the arms of Olympic goalkeeper Chloe Carmichael.

Olympic came close to opening the scoring themselves eight minutes later, and new signing Aimee Phillips would have done so if not for the brilliance in goal of Dumont, who stayed big in a one-on-one contest before plunging to her left to paw away Phillips’ shot and maintain parity.

It took until midway through the second half for either team to break the deadlock, and it was with devastating consequences for Blacktown; scuffing her shot from 25 metres, midfielder Angelique Hristodoulou managed to find Mackenzie Hawkesby bursting into the box, who made no mistake in dinking the ball softly over the stricken Dumont.

With reserve goalkeeper Regan Hill now guarding the cage, Spartans looked to protect their defence at all costs, and were rewarded for their attacking endeavour with a brilliant team goal just before the end of regulation tine, finished expertly by Sciberras as she tumbled to the turf just inside the Olympic box.

That jubilation turned to heartbreak only moments later, as Vine was crudely bundled over by Olivia Sloan in the Spartans box, leaving the referee no choice but to award Olympic a penalty. Golden Boot winner Vine dusted herself off and stepped up to the spot, blasting her shot past substitute keeper Hill to hand back the lead to Olympic and pile the pressure on the home team.

Moments later, Olympic had their third, Vine breaking free from her own half after an Alexia Moreno free kick, bearing down on Hill in the Spartans goal before coolly slotting underneath the keeper and into the far corner, sealing the three points for her side.

Blacktown Spartans 1 (Candace Sciberras 86’)
Sydney Olympic 3 (Mackenzie Hawkesby 68’, Cortnee Vine 90’+2p 90’+5)

Blacktown: Casey Dumont (Regan Hill 71’); Alix Roberts, Tanya Borazio, Annabelle Daczko, Keisha Allen; Tiarne Flavin (Olivia Sloan 83’), Rosie Galea, Alexia Moreno; Candace Sciberras (Ashley Calvar 90’+1), Ashlie Crofts, Hollie Palmer (Natalie Vuković 77’).

Olympic: Chloe Carmichael; Jess Frampton, Angelique Hristodoulou, Emily Kos, Charlotte McLean; Julia Vignes, Teresa Polias, Mackenzie Hawkesby, Sarah Yatim (Ella Martins 81’); Aimee Phillips, Kiara de Domizio (Cortnee Vine 71’).

Check out our gallery of Blacktown Spartans v Sydney Olympic. Photos courtesy Kellie Lemon (Instagram – @klzphotography)

Northern Tigers v Macarthur Rams

The events at Cromer Park and Blacktown Football Park provided an opportunity. Northern Tigers didn’t need to be asked twice.

It might have been through the back door, but nevertheless the Tigers capped off an eventful day by moving up into fourth place and claiming the last semi-final spot at a typically windy North Turramurra Recreation Area. A Daisy Arrowsmith hat trick, plus goals from Gema Simon and Ellie Brush, secured a 5-1 win over a Macarthur Rams side whose solitary goal came from Laura Murtagh.

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Given the task facing the hosts, it was vital to get out of the blocks quickly and that’s exactly what the Tigers did. Less than four minutes had been played when Simon pounced on an error, charged into the area and slotted the ball past Rams goalkeeper Sham Khamis. Within 60 seconds it was 2-0 after Hannah McNulty switched play to a wide open Maddie Bart, who had the simple task of squaring it so Arrowsmith could tap the ball home from close range.

Northern Tigers were pressing high and constantly harassing Macarthur when they had possession. Their attacking movement was also causing problems as the front three of Lauren Allan, Maxine Peak and Arrowsmith had the freedom to roam, while Maddie Bart was a willing runner from central midfield.

It took a while for the Rams to work their way into the contest, but the visitors were able to pull a goal back just past the quarter hour mark. Leena Khamis shot from distance after a typical driving run, and when Tigers goalkeeper Claire Coelho could only parry the shot Murtagh was on hand to score from the rebound.

However, the Tigers always looked more dangerous and so it proved on 36 minutes as Arrowsmith dispossessed Renee Rollason, raced towards goal and scored with a lovely outside-of-the-foot shot. Neither goal was seriously threatened in the remainder of the first half, so the score was 3-1 to the home side at halftime.

As in the opening period, Northern Tigers started the second half brightly. Brush headed home from a Simon corner in the 53rd minute – now with a 4-1 lead the home side had a strong enough goal difference to capitalise on any slip ups from Spartans and APIA.

After the interval, Rollason would often step out of the Macarthur backline to create an extra attacker, and Kylie Ledbrook was brought on with about 25 minutes remaining. The Rams threatened occasionally, but the Tigers put numbers behind the ball when they had to, defending strongly in and around their penalty area.

While events elsewhere fell into place for the Tigers, they kept doing their job. A fifth goal arrived with 13 minutes left in normal time when Allan won a penalty. Arrowsmith stepped up, sending the spot kick down the middle to complete her hat trick and make it 5-1. As time ran down, Servet Uzunlar made her first appearance of the campaign, and there was a nice touch as Brush handed her the armband for the final few minutes.

This game kicked off half an hour later than the other two games, so at full time Northern Tigers knew they had snuck into fourth place. Their second consecutive NPLW1 finals appearance is an impressive achievement when you consider that they were in NPLW2 as recently as 2016.

On Sunday afternoon, Northern Tigers take on Sydney University at Arlington Oval for a place in the 2020 NSW NPLW1 Grand Final. Sydney Olympic hosts Manly United at Peter Moore Field on Saturday afternoon in the other semi-final.

Northern Tigers 5 (Gema Simon 4’, Daisy Arrowsmith 5’ 36’ 77’p, Ellie Brush 53’)
Macarthur Rams 1 (Laura Murtagh 16’)

Tigers: Claire Coelho, Isabella Foletta (Sophie De Montemas 82’), Ellie Brush, Greta Kraszula, Gema Simon, Emma Watkins (Zoe Halpin 54’), Maddie Bart, Hannah McNulty, Daisy Arrowsmith, Maxine Peak (Servet Uzunlar 87’), Lauren Allan

Macarthur: Sham Khamis, Rachael Goldstein, Renee Rollason, Ivana Galic, Patricia Charalambous, Leila Braimah-Mahamah (Alanah Nicholas 85’), Natasha Prior (Kylie Ledbrook 64’), Leena Khamis, Lara Dipple (Elena Antic 64’), Laura Murtagh, Chrystal Duggan

Around the Grounds
Emerging Jets 0 Football NSW Institute 5
Sydney University 3 Illawarra Stingrays 1
North West Sydney Koalas 4 Bankstown City 0

Table

View the semi-finals here, and read more Beyond 90 NSW NPL articles here.