NPLW WA Round 5 Review

Round 5 was spread over three days. The first game kicked off at Rosalie Park in Subiaco on Friday evening, where the home team entertained Fremantle City.

Fremantle seemed a little nervous in the opening 20 minutes as Subiaco created a couple of early chances, but a goal in the 23rd minute for the visitors calmed them. Ashleigh Santich picked the ball up in a central position and drove into the space left by the retreating Subiaco defence. She fed the ball to Annabelle Leek who took one touch to control the ball before shooting low into the left-hand corner to open the scoring. The visitors doubled their lead in the 33rd minute with a solo effort from Mikayla Lyons. With the ball at her feet about 15 metres inside the Subiaco half on the left-hand side of the pitch, she beat one challenge as she cut inside and then sent a fierce right-footed shot into the bottom left of the Subiaco goal – a great effort which allowed Fremantle to relax and dominate the rest of the half.

Fremantle’s third goal arrived in the 58th minute when Courtney Butlion broke free on the left and moved into the box. Her cross wasn’t properly cleared and found Kayla Mcculloch at the edge of the penalty area, who drilled a shot low into the net to make it 3-0. Fremantle put the icing on the cake with their fourth in the 64th minute. Butlion played a neat 1-2 with Mcculloch and found space on the left-wing. She outpaced the defence and slotted her second to wrap the game up and earn the three points for Fremantle.

On Saturday afternoon Curtin University hosted second place Perth, who knew that any sort of result would see them occupy the top position for at least 24 hours. The opening action happened as early as the first minute when Curtin hit the bar, and their physical approach seemed to unsettle Perth who had to wait until the 14th minute before they created their first chance. Perth Glory defender Jenna Onions found herself in the unusual territory of the opposition penalty box, but her miscued shot didn’t really trouble Stacey Cavill in the Curtin goal.

Curtin took the lead in the 17th minute when Penelope Clayton took advantage of a poor Perth clearance from a throw-in and sent a first time shot over the despairing dive of Rebecca Bennett in the Perth goal. The lead was short-lived though, as Perth countered immediately from the re-start. They worked the ball out to Emily Henderson on the left-wing, where she beat her full-back and crossed for Zoee Spadano to score the equaliser. The goal spurred Perth into action as Henderson and Abbey Meakins both went close before the home side restored their lead in the 40th minute. A free-kick just inside the Perth half was sent towards the visitors’ penalty area. Nina Boorman reacted quicker than her marker and tucked the ball away to make it 2-1 for the home team at the break.

The second half saw the game see-sawing with neither team dominating, but the home side started to earn the ire of referee Anthony Walsh and he booked three Curtin players. Things threatened to get out of control as Perth became more desperate and the away team took exception to a strong challenge by Rochelle Hondema in the 89th minute. This prompted some pushing and shoving between the two teams and both Hondema and Perth’s Jessica Byrne ended up in the book. Perth’s desire to get something from the game was rewarded in the 91st minute when substitute Liana Cook’s mis-hit cross wrong-footed Cavill and sailed into the net to make the final score 2-2 and take the Azzurri to the top of the table.

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On Sunday third place Hyundai NTC entertained fifth place Balcatta at Celebration Park, absolutely brimming with confidence after their impressive showing in the previous round against Fremantle. Balcatta was not short of confidence either with some impressive performances of their own in the previous two rounds.

The NTC came out of the blocks very quickly and Abbey Green forced a save from Balcatta keeper Gabrielle Dal Busco in the first minute. Any thoughts of a repeat of last Sunday’s result by NTC were quickly extinguished though as Balcatta nearly scored themselves a minute later, when a poor throw from NTC keeper and Junior Matilda Miranda Templeman was intercepted by Angelique Alberts. She quickly moved the ball to Chelsie Winchcombe but her shot was straight at the relieved Templeman. The visitors took the lead in the 30th minute as they worked the ball down their left-wing and released Ashleigh Panaia. Her teasing cross was met by Angelique Roberts who got to the ball ahead of Templeman and sent the ball into the net. Templeman felt that she had been impeded by Roberts but referee Liam Dunn was clear that no foul had been committed.

The home team restored parity soon after the restart. In the 47th minute, the impressive Green broke free on the left and crossed into the box, where Judy Connolly sent a looping header up over Dal Busco. The keeper was able to get a hand on it but couldn’t prevent it from going into the net. This game was now nicely set up and both sides had good chances to gain the three points. In the 54th minute, Tijan McKenna fired just over from about 20 metres, and in the 63rd minute, Balcatta’s Christiane Astorp sent a first-time shot just wide.

There was a heart in the mouth moment for Templeman in the 66th minute when a back pass went under her foot, but she was able to get back and clear. Templeman was involved again a minute later as she came out of her box to shut down the onrushing Caitlin Doeglas. Doeglas attempted to lift the ball over her and it struck her on the arm. Referee Dunn awarded a free-kick to Balcatta and produced a yellow for Templeman. The final chance of the game fell to Hana Lowry who was played in behind the Balcatta defence in the 89th minute, but Dal Busco was alert to the danger and saved bravely at Lowry’s feet to ensure the game ended 1-1.

The final game of the round was at Kingsway Reserve, where fourth place Northern Redbacks took on league leaders MUM FC. A large number of MUM players played for Queens Park in last year’s competition, and Redbacks and Queens Park used to enjoy a fierce rivalry so this fixture was bound to be a competitive affair.

Redbacks started the game with both their first-choice keeper and skipper out with injuries. They were forced to shuffle their pack a little and knew they had to try and contain the league’s leading goalscorer, Katarina Jukic, if they were to stop their opponents opening a five point gap between the two teams.

Redbacks started the brightest and had the best of the chances in the first half with Larissa Walsh proving to be a constant threat on the right-wing. Midfielder Carla Bennett and Sarah Carroll were feeding Walsh but she couldn’t beat Danelle Cornish in the MUM FC goal. The visitors were also producing chances of their own with the dangerous Jukic a constant threat. Their best chance came in the 35th minute when Jukic played in Stacey Learmont, but Redbacks keeper Maya Diederichsen used her experience to stay big and deny the MUM FC veteran.

The second half saw MUM FC step up a gear and they pressed the home team more vigorously. There was no real surprise when they opened the scoring in the 56th minute, and also no surprise as to the identity of the scorer – Jukic sent a shot from just outside the box over the head of Diederichsen to make it 1-0. They doubled their lead in the 74th minute when Ellie La Monte got in front of her marker to head home a Learmont cross and score her sixth of the season.

The home team seemed dead and buried at this point, but a speculative first time shot from around 30 metres by Georgia Cawley in the 84th minute caught Cornish unawares to give Redbacks faint hope and make the score 2-1. However, despite a nervy final six minutes of regular time and four minutes of injury time, the away side held on for the three points to sit clear at the top of the table.

LADDER

Round 6 Fixtures (7th – 9th Aug)

Murdoch University Melville vs Football West Hyundai NTC (7th Aug)
Curtin University vs Subiaco (8th August)
Perth vs Northern Redbacks (9th August)
Balcatta vs Fremantle City (9th August)

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