With such a shortened season due to COVID, every round of the NPLW WA is turning into a vital one as teams can ill afford to drop points and allow others to open up a gap.
This was certainly the case for round 3 as Perth and NTC were hoping to remain unbeaten in their games against MUM FC and Subiaco respectively, the latter hoping to earn their first points of the campaign. Balcatta was looking to maintain pressure at the top and deny Curtin University their first win of the season, whilst two of the big guns in Fremantle City and Northern Redbacks were desperate to take all three points in their game.
The round was a split one, featuring two games on Saturday and two on Sunday, with the clash at Chichester Park between Curtin University and Balcatta opening proceedings.
The form book suggested that Balcatta were favourites for this one, but Curtin was not going to go down without a fight, and nearly scored the first of the game in the 12th minute when a spot-kick was given after referee Julian Sierra noticed a push in the back in the area. Nina Boorman stepped up to take the penalty, but her effort was well saved by the Balcatta captain Gabby Dal Busco who dived low to her right to keep the shot out, saving her second penalty of the season. The 1st half ended at 0-0 and there was a sense an upset might be in the air.
However, Balcatta gradually took control and eventually the lead in the 64th minute, when a long ball from Monique D’Opera sent Angelique Alberts away on the right-hand side of the penalty area. Her well-angled shot proved too good for Curtin keeper and captain Stacey Cavill and Balcatta went 1-0 up. Balcatta’s Perth Glory striker Caitlin Doeglas now started to become more dominant and she tested Cavill with 2 strikes as the visitors gradually turned the screw looking for a second. This duly arrived in the 76th minute when an attempted clearance in the penalty area struck Ashleigh Panaia and ricocheted into the net. Balcatta then put the icing on the cake in the 85th minute when a cross from Cassandra Harvey was turned in by substitute Maddison Schofield to make the final score 3-0.
The other game on Saturday saw table-toppers Perth face Murdoch University Melville on Saturday evening. The pitch at Dorrien Gardens did no favours for either team, as it was heavily cut up following three successive men’s games prior to the NPLW WA fixture. The attraction of doubleheaders for clubs with men’s teams is obvious, but questions have to be asked if it is worth it when the quality of the playing surface becomes so poor that players have difficulty controlling the ball.
MUM looked the most comfortable in the early exchanges, and it was no real surprise when they took the lead in the 25th minute. A cross from veteran Stacey Learmont was well controlled by Ellie La Monte before she fired a shot into the bottom left past Perth keeper Rebecca Bennett. The Perth keeper was part of a calamitous 2nd goal for MUM when she moved out of her area to clear but only succeeded in slicing the ball high into the air. La Monte then headed goalwards from outside the box but it appeared to have insufficient power to cause any problems. The Perth defence got into a horrible tangle though and somehow the ball crossed the line to make it 2-0.
The visitors’ joy was short-lived, as straight from the restart Perth went up the other end through ex-Matilda Nicola Bolger and pulled the deficit back to 2-1. The score stayed that way until the 83rd minute, when a throw-in deep into the Perth half was collected by Learmont whose cross was not dealt with by the Perth defence, allowing Kat Jukic to head home her teams 3rd and her 5th of the season to make the score 3-1. There was still time for more drama when a corner in injury time found its way to unmarked substitute Jess Byrne, whose shot had just enough on it to evade MUM keeper Danielle Cornish and make the final score 3-2 to the visitors.
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On Sunday Subiaco hosted NTC in what many pundits had tipped to be a certain 3 pointer for the visitors. However, as in the first round when NTC dropped points against Curtin Uni, the youngsters didn’t appear to take their hosts seriously enough. Subiaco capitalised on some defensive frailties in the 16th minute when a corner wasn’t dealt with properly by NTC. The ball fell to Subiaco skipper Jennifer Walsh, whose shot crept in at the near post to give her side the lead. This shock seemed to wake the visitors up and some crisp passing saw the ball worked to Junior Matilda Hana Lowry, who strode into the area and despatched a neat shot past Subiaco keeper Marissa Pidgeon to score the equaliser in the 25th minute.
An arm wrestle then ensued in the 2nd half, but Subiaco again took the lead in the 75th minute from a free-kick outside the box. The NTC lost the flight of the ball at the back post and allowed MK Ward to put her side back in the lead. A major upset now looked on the cards, especially as the clock ticked into injury time. However, there was one more twist to the game when a cross from Abbey Ward clearly struck the outstretched arm of Gabrielle Morrissey and referee Stephen Knight pointed to the spot. Captain Leticia McKenna despatched the kick to earn the late equaliser.
The final game of the round was at Kingsway Reserve, where last year’s double champions Northern Redbacks took on this year’s Night Series winner in a highly anticipated clash. Redbacks were keen to recover from last week’s disappointing performance when they lost to NTC, whilst Fremantle was full of confidence after a crushing win against Curtin in the previous round.
The game was a cagey affair and the first chance didn’t arrive until the 16th minute when a corner found its way to Redbacks leading scorer Sarah Carroll, but she miscued her strike and allowed Dale Schroeder to collect. In the 26th minute the best chance of the half fell to Fremantle’s Jamie-Lee Gale when she found herself free and one on one with Redbacks’ Young Matildas keeper Morgan Aquino. The keeper stayed big though to make the save. Another chance came Redbacks’ way in the 37th minute when Sophia Neal was released by Carla Bennett, but her shot was well saved by Schroeder.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 56th minute when a free-kick was awarded to Redbacks about 30 yards out. Kim Carroll slid the ball wide to Mel Doeglas, whose mishit cross hit the bar and bounced down. Larissa Walsh was in the right spot at the right time as the rebound cannoned off her thigh and into the net to put Redbacks 1-0 up. Fremantle then threw everything they had at Redbacks in the search for an equaliser, but with Kim Carroll and Georgia Cawley in imperious form at the heart of the defence, last year’s champions held on for the precious three points.
LADDER
| Pos | Team | Played | Win | Draw | Loss | For | Against | Diff | Points |
| 1 | MUM | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| 2 | Northern Redbacks | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| 3 | Balcatta | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | Perth | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | NTC | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | Fremantle | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Curtin University | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | -8 | 1 |
| 8 | Subiaco | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 12 | -10 | 0 |
Round 4 Fixtures (24th & 26th July)
Murdoch University Melville Football Club vs Curtin University (24th July)
Perth Soccer Club vs Subiaco (26th July)
Balcatta vs Northern Redbacks (26th July)
Fremantle City vs Football West Hyundai NTC (26th July)
