After lockdown caused the cancellation of the 2021 campaign, we’re delighted to once again be covering the NSW NPL competition!
A combination of Young Matildas callups, Junior Matildas callups and washouts meant only two of the opening round games were played last weekend, but there was still plenty of action for fans to enjoy. Our featured game took us to south-west Sydney as Macarthur Rams hosted Bankstown City.
Macarthur Rams v Bankstown City Lions
Macarthur Rams opened their account for 2022 with a 3-1 win over Bankstown City Lions at Lynwood Park. Late goals from Chrystal Duggan and Laura Murtagh proved to be the difference for Macarthur, after an early strike from Rams legend Kylie Ledbrook was cancelled out by Bankstown’s Paige Hayward.
It didn’t take long for Macarthur to hit the front. Barely five minutes had been played when a Kylo Charalambous free kick wasn’t cleared by the Lions defence, and Ledbrook picked up the scraps to fire her team into a 1-0 lead.
Bankstown responded almost immediately as Maryam Mostaghimi played a wonderful ball over the top for Hayward, but Rams goalkeeper Chloe Carmichael stood tall to make a one on one save. Carmichael was called into action again just past the 20 minute mark, getting down well to save a long range shot from Georgia Plessas. However, the visitors would make it 1-1 from the resulting corner kick. Plessas took the set piece and picked out Hayward at the far post, with the former Texas Southern University star heading in for the equaliser.
Bankstown were causing the Rams some problems with their high pressing, and a few minutes later Hayward nearly caught the home side napping when she charged down Carmichael’s clearance and crossed, but she couldn’t pick out a teammate. At the other end of the field, stand-in Lions shotstopper Kate McPherson was doing good work as a sweeper-keeper, most importantly on 42 minutes when she rushed off her line and beat Charalambous to a Ledbrook through pass.
In the final minute of the first half, Siobhan Edwards could have put Bankstown in front, forcing Carmichael into another save after getting on the end of Tiana Jaber’s cross.
The visitors went close again in the opening minute of the second period. Stephanie Ambrose had been troubling Macarthur with her set piece delivery, and she was denied when Carmichael tipped her 35 yard free kick onto the crossbar.
Bankstown head coach Matthew Costantini introduced two off-season recruits, Daisy Arrowsmith and Emily Condon, from the bench with about half an hour remaining. Emma Stanbury (returning to the club after playing for them in 2020) also made a substitute appearance, and those three will surely become key players for the Lions as the season develops.
Just past the hour mark, Macarthur had a great chance to take the lead when Charalambous whipped a dangerous cross in from the left side, but Murtagh couldn’t keep her header down – she would however, atone for that miss in the closing stages.
The Lions kept pushing for a goal and Arrowsmith nearly scored an early contender for goal of the season. She intercepted a pass, sprinted past two defenders and was one on one with Carmichael, however the young keeper forced Arrowsmith wide and made a sharp save. Then with just under 20 minutes left, Bankstown would hit the frame of the goal for the second time. Plessas showed brilliant close control to hold off two opponents, and her 25 yard strike hit the crossbar with Carmichael beaten.
However, despite those Bankstown chances, it would be Macarthur’s night, with Charalambous involved in both their second and third goals. In the 77th minute, Rams substitute Chrystal Duggan put the hosts 2-1 up, bundling the ball in from close range off a Charalambous corner kick. Then on 85 minutes, Charalambous found Murtagh in space, allowing the Rams forward to skip past a tackle and fire the ball past McPherson.
The Lions had one final chance in stoppage time when Arrowsmith intercepted Carmichael’s underhit goal kick and played the ball to Plessas, but Carmichael made up for that mistake by making an excellent one on one save.
Macarthur will be pleased to get points on the board before most of their competitors have had the chance to play. The signs are looking good for Stephen Peters’ side, especially as Lauren Keir, Darcey Malone and the Khamis sisters (Leena and Sham) are still to come back into the squad.
Bankstown will consider themselves unlucky to not have gotten at least a point from this game, but they can take positives from the number of chances they created.
In the only other game that was played last weekend, APIA Leichhardt defeated North West Sydney Spirit 3-0 with goals from Sophie Hoban, Rhianna Pollicina and Deborah-Anne De La Harpe.
The Football NSW Institute v Manly United and Blacktown Spartans v Sydney University games were postponed due to youth international callups, while Illawarra Stingrays v Sydney Olympic and Emerging Jets v Northern Tigers were washed out.
Round 2 will be played on Easter Monday – Macarthur host Spirit and Bankstown host Illawarra.
Macarthur Rams 3 (Ledbrook 6’, Duggan 77’, Murtagh 85’)
Bankstown City 1 (Hayward 22’)
Macarthur Rams: Chloe Carmichael, Olivia Sloan (Sophie Macalpine 81’), Alex Huynh, Holly Williams, Isabella Foletta, Chloe Gordon, Bethany Gordon, Melissa Caceres (Chrystal Duggan 61’), Laura Murtagh (c), Kylie Ledbrook (Jasmine Limon 76’), Kylo Charalambous
Unused subs: Brianna Clarke, Natasha Rieri
Yellow cards: Kylo Charalambous 19’, Isabella Foletta 90+2’
Bankstown City: Kate McPherson, Tiana Jaber, Maryam Mostaghimi, Baxter Thew, Stephanie Ambrose, Skye Casacchia (Emma Stanbury 68’), Liana Danaskos (c), Olivia Price, Georgia Plessas, Siobhan Edwards (Emily Condon 61’), Paige Hayward (Daisy Arrowsmith 58’)
Unused subs: Stephanie Grimbilos, Elin Rosenberg
Yellow cards: Tiana Jaber 45’, Emma Stanbury 82’
