NPLW WA Round 12 Review

Round 12 of the NPLW WA could well have decided both the competition’s first ever champions and the makeup of the final four. At its conclusion, MUM FC are now in the box seat, sitting three points clear of second-placed Perth with just two rounds left to play. In the race for the top four, NTC and Fremantle have now opened up a gap on Redbacks and Balcatta that may be too much for them to make up.

This round started with a midweek game at Fremantle. The hosts took on cellar-dwellers Subiaco hoping to boost their goal difference, which could well prove to be vital in the race for the top four.

The action started as early as the second minute when Fremantle’s Laura Waltman headed just over from a Tash Rigby cross, and things were already looking ominous for the team with the worst defensive record in the league. In the ninth minute, Subiaco were to encounter more problems when Mk Ward fell awkwardly and badly damaged her knee, requiring her to be stretchered off. It was clear she was in obvious pain and it’s hoped she can make a full recovery from her injury.

Fremantle continued to pressure the beleaguered Subiaco defence. They took the lead on 17 minutes through Mikayla Lyons, whose shot was mishandled by Analeisha Pickering in the Subiaco goal. A penalty in the 26th minute doubled the lead and also provided Lyons with her second of the night, and the hosts went 3-0 up on 33 minutes when Waltman fired home. They then added a fourth in first half injury time with an Annabelle Leek strike from just outside the box.

The second half saw Subiaco welcome Marissa Pidgeon, back in goals after injury. Her presence seemed to have a galvanising effect on her teammates as they started to press Fremantle more aggressively and give them less time on the ball. Subiaco nearly scored in the 53rd minute when miscommunication between Fremantle’s Steffi Nadilo and keeper Dayle Schroeder let in Jeanette Gordon, however Schroeder was able to save at her feet. Another chance fell Subiaco’s way on 59 minutes, but Erin Marstrand skewed her shot wide when put through by Gordon.

Despite Subiaco’s improved performance in the second half, it was still Fremantle who were the most likely to score again, and they did so in the 73rd minute when the impressive Lyons got to the by-line. She then turned the ball back into the six yard box for Jayme-Lee Smith, who had the simple task of tapping the ball in to make it 5-0. Five became six in the 77th minute when Jamie-Lee Gale beat the offside trap and the onrushing Pidgeon to score her first of the campaign, much to the delight of her teammates. Fremantle added two more through an own goal by Pidgeon and Smith to cap off a solid performance by the home team. The three points were important, but the eight goal boost to their goal difference was just as vital and gives them a big lift in their chase for a top four spot.

All eyes then turned to the Friday night game under lights at Murdoch University. Hosts MUM entertained a Northern Redbacks team who were without a win in their previous four games and in serious danger of missing out on the top four. Meanwhile, MUM would want to put some pressure on second-placed Perth by opening a three-point gap before the Azzurri played on Sunday afternoon.

The game followed the form book in the first half with MUM making most of the running but being denied by some resolute defending. Redbacks goalkeeper Morgan Aquino was called into action on a number of occasions, her best save coming in the 18th minute when she denied Katarina Jukic from opening the scoring by getting just enough on the MUM striker’s effort to deflect it for a corner. She was also on hand to prevent Charli Wainwright in the 39th minute. The young midfielder found time and space in the box to get her shot off, but Aquino stuck out a leg to deflect the ball out for another corner.

Early in the second half Kim Carroll rather uncharacteristically gave the ball away when her attempted pass out of defence only succeeded in finding Jukic. You would have had good odds on the league’s leading scorer adding to her tally, but young Andrea Teixeira made a superb challenge to rob Jukic and avert the danger.

Redbacks were making life difficult for their opponents, who you could sense were starting to get a little anxious, and there were one or two signs that the home team were not having things all their own way. In the 57th minute, Emily Dunn intercepted a pass out from the MUM defence and lobbed the ball back towards the goal, but it was just too high. More excellent defensive work from Teixeira snuffed out another MUM attack on 62 minutes and from the subsequent throw-in, Redbacks launched a rapid counter-attack when Carla Bennett and Sarah Carroll exchanged quick passes to get Carroll away into space. Baxter Thew was on hand to halt the attack, and at this point the game was on a knife-edge. Redbacks thought they were through in the 79th minute but Shawn Billam’s tackle on Thew to dispossess the MUM defender was adjudged illegal and a free-kick went MUM’s way.

The match was finally settled with Sadie Lawrence’s super strike in the 82nd minute from a corner. The ball found its way to Jukic and with a clever turn, she managed to squeeze a pass into Lawrence. The midfielder had just enough space and time to get her right foot shot off and it flew into the top corner of the net. She was quickly mobbed by her teammates as they all realised just how important the goal was.

The game ended 1-0 to MUM and the three points earned may well be the turning point for the championship. For Redbacks, this defeat will be hard to take but is a microcosm of their season, as the lack of a cutting edge has seriously hampered their hopes of getting into the top four.

On Sunday, second-placed Perth faced off against a resurgent Curtin University, who were fresh from defeating Fremantle City in the last round.

After MUM’s victory on Friday night, Perth knew that nothing less than three points would be sufficient if they were to try and win the title. They couldn’t have got off to a better start as a seventh minute corner was deflected into her own net by Natarsha Smith. With the strong wind behind their backs, Perth dominated the first half but couldn’t convert possession into goals and went in at the break just one goal to the good.

Perth very nearly doubled their lead in the 52nd minute when Liana Cook found herself one on one with Stacey Cavill in the Curtin goal, but Perth’s top scorer dragged her shot just wide. As Curtin now had the advantage of the wind in the second half they started to become more and more of a threat, nearly equalising in the 67th minute when Andrea Preiato dispossessed Jenna Onions near the corner flag. She found Abena Selormey free in the penalty area, but Selormey couldn’t quite keep her side-footed volley down and the ball went over the bar, much to keeper Rebecca Bennett’s relief.

As with the first half, a goal arrived in the second half via a corner. The wind certainly helped Nina Boorman’s inswinging corner and it bounced dangerously in the six yard box before Rebecca Dudek applied a finishing touch to level the scores. Curtin really had the bit between their teeth now and were battling for every ball. Perth was still trying to regain the lead when a long punt out of defence by Curtin in the 94th minute suddenly turned into a defence-splitting pass as it beat Perth’s offside trap. Preiato raced onto the ball and headed for the area, hotly pursued by Perth defenders. Her strikers’ instincts then recognised that Jess Demargo was unmarked in the box and she squared the ball to her teammate. Demargo’s shot beat Bennett and signalled some wild celebrations by her teammates and the travelling Curtin supporters.

This defeat has seriously dented Perth’s title hopes, as they must now rely on MUM dropping points in their last two games if they are to have any chance of catching them.

The final game of the round was a clash between two teams with top four aspirations, as third-placed Hyundai NTC travelled to sixth-placed Balcatta with just one point separating them.

The game started off at a fast pace and the first chance fell to Balcatta’s Sofie Bolingbroke when her right-footed shot grazed the top of the NTC crossbar. NTC then took the lead in the sixth minute as Kim McCartney attempted to intercept a cross from Leticia McKenna, but only succeeded in sending the ball into a slow and agonising arc over her keeper’s head and into the net.

NTC settled into their possession-based game and moved the ball around whilst Balcatta were hoping to hit them on the break. Balcatta nearly did so in the 12th minute when Caitlin Doeglas played in Angelique Alberts, but she was checked by Isabella Wallhead just outside the box, Wallhead earning a yellow card in the process. The free kick was saved by Miranda Templeman in the NTC goal.

In the 31st minute, NTC doubled their lead. Some excellent work by Taneesha Baker down the right flank saw her beat the fullback and square the ball back into the six yard box, where Hana Lowry applied a neat finish to score her second goal of the campaign. Balcatta was not beaten though and they continued to be a threat on the break, especially through Doeglas. She came close on 38 minutes when she was played in by Monique Gooding who picked the NTC defence’s pocket, but the Perth Glory striker’s shot was just wide. The game was taking on a real end-to-end feel now, and both sides struck the woodwork through Baker and Doeglas before referee Stephen Knight blew for half time.

If Balcatta were to try and get into the top four they would need a win from this game, but they very nearly fell further behind as Grace Monteiro became the fourth player of the day to hit the woodwork when her 64th minute shot struck the crossbar. Balcatta did get back into the game on 67 minutes though when Templeman made a mess of an attempted pass to her defender. Cassandra Harvey picked up the errant pass and sent the ball into the back of the net.

Hopes of a comeback were extinguished in the 73rd minute when Abbey Green burst into the box and fired a shot towards goal. Balcatta keeper Gabby Dal Busco did well to keep the shot out, but Green quickly picked the rebound up and passed the ball to Jaspa Cargill Fletcher, who wasted no time in burying the ball in the back of the net. At this stage, NTC looked home and hosed and Dal Busco had to be at her best to deny Lowry from point-blank range, whilst Green became yet another player to hit the bar as NTC pressed for a fourth.

Balcatta was still putting up a fight, and in the 82nd minute Godding found Doeglas at the top of the penalty box. Doeglas created space out of nothing with her first touch and then swivelled to hit a great shot into the top corner, giving her side faint hopes of perhaps earning a point. That hope was finally extinguished in injury time when Lowry picked out Monique Prinsloo in the Balcatta box to score NTC’s fourth of the game and her fifth of the campaign.

The win propelled the Hyundai NTC back into third place, ahead of Fremantle on goal difference, whilst Balcatta now sits four points behind them in sixth place with two games to go.

Round 13 could see MUM crowned champions, if they can beat the Hyundai NTC at Celebration Park and Northern Redbacks can take points off Perth when they play at Olympic Kingsway.

LADDER

Round 13 Fixtures (27th Sept)

Hyundai NTC vs MUM FC
Fremantle City vs Balcatta FC
Northern Redbacks vs Perth Soccer Club
Subiaco AFC vs Curtin University FC