NPLW WA Round 7 Review

The halfway mark of the NPLW WA season has followed the pattern of previous rounds with hard-fought games and upset results.

Round 7 kicked off in the southern WA town of Albany on Saturday, when the Football West Hyundai NTC took on Perth SC. With both teams in the top 4 but coming off narrow defeats in Round 6, this game promised to be a close and hard-fought affair.

Technically a home game for the Hyundai NTC, it was Perth SC who had most of the support from the 1,000 strong crowd as local girl and Perth Glory squad member Jenna Onions was playing for the Azzurri.

NTC came out of the blocks very quickly and took the lead in the fourth minute through Judy Connolly. A neat interchange of passes between Abbey Green and Hana Lowry saw Green get into the box and slide a ball across the six-yard line. Perth goalkeeper Rebecca Bennett missed the ball and Connolly pounced on the mistake to stab it home for the opener. The lead only lasted a minute though as Perth forced a corner and Liana Cook was on hand to head home the equaliser in the fifth minute.

There was drama in the eighth minute when NTC keeper Miranda Templeman played a poor pass out from the back straight to Perth’s Abbey Meakins. The touch was heavy though and allowed Templeman to redeem herself by diving bravely at the striker’s feet. Referee Jessica Byrd awarded a free-kick to the NTC and Templeman then showed her lack of experience by opting to take the kick herself. This went straight to Cook and only a fine save by the young keeper stopped her side from going behind.

The frantic pace of the first half continued in the 28th minute when Templeman launched a long ball towards the halfway line. Local girl Onions misjudged the bounce and Green was through on goal, with only a fine save from Bennett preventing NTC from regaining the lead.Perth was living dangerously now, and NTC was denied a goal by the linesman’s flag in the 32nd minute, but then out of nowhere Perth took the lead in the 34th minute when Melissa Shepherd’s shot-come-pass found Cook free in the 18-yard box. The young striker had enough time to take a touch and she fired a low shot past Templeman to score her second of the game and make it 2-1.

The second half was nearly all NTC but they couldn’t find a way past the Perth defence. The closest they came was in the 84th minute when Kate Armstrong did exceptionally well to beat two defenders, however her shot was wide of the target.

Sunday saw three games being played, with proceedings kicking off at Subiaco where the bottom-placed home team took on one of the form teams in the competition, Balcatta FC. Subiaco had earned a hard-fought point in the last round, whilst Balcatta missed the previous round as their game against Fremantle had been called off due to bad weather.

Any thoughts Subiaco may have had of gaining some momentum from last week’s draw were snuffed out inside the first 15 minutes as Balcatta raced to a two-goal lead courtesy of Christiane Astorp. They also lost their captain and goalkeeper Marissa Pidgeon to a hand injury sustained when trying to prevent Balcatta going three up.

Teenager keeper Annaleisha Pickering had to come off the bench for her 1st team debut, and her first task was to restart with a drop ball following Pidgeon’s injury. Unfortunately, her kick only found Balcatta’s Ashleigh Panaia who returned it straight over her head for Balcatta’s third. Balcatta then added a fourth in the 23rd minute when the impressive Caitlin Doeglas finished a neat move. The game was effectively over as a contest at this point, but the home team managed to keep Balcatta scoreless for the remainder of the half right up until injury time, when Doeglas added her second to make it 5-0 at the break.

There was more pain to follow for Subiaco in the second half as Balcatta sensed an opportunity to boost their goal difference, which may prove to be vital at the end of the season. Monique Gooding made it 6-0 in the 53rd minute and Astorp secured her hat-trick in the 57th minute to make it 7-0. Her strike partner Doeglas scored her hat-trick in the 65th minute to make it 8-0, and the goal of the game was scored in the 73rd minute when Astorp hit one from downtown for her fourth and her side’s ninth.

Panaia’s brace made it double figures in the 86th minute and Subiaco’s misery was complete in the 88th minute when centre back Kim McCartney got in on the act to score her side’s 11th.

Third placed Northern Redbacks entertained a winless and second-from-bottom Curtin University at a newly refurbished Kingsway Olympic ground. On paper, this looked like it would be a home banker for Redbacks. However, this season has shown that the form book cannot be relied upon. Curtin had drawn against NTC and Perth earlier this season, so this was not a game Redbacks could afford to take lightly.

They were certainly shaken by the high pressing of Curtin and a turnover in their penalty box as early as the second minute saw Nina Boorman shoot just over. The visitors then suffered a blow in the eighth minute when Hannah Taylor went down after an innocuous challenge and immediately called for assistance from the bench – Jade Paul went on in her place.

Redbacks were struggling to put any sort of pressure on the Curtin defence, and it wasn’t until the 20th minute that they mustered their first meaningful attack. Full back Katie Moth’s cross was met by Renee Leota, but the ex-Kiwi international couldn’t keep her header on target. The best chance of the half fell to Curtin in the 40th minute when they worked an opening for Boorman about 20 metres out. Her dipping shot was goal bound and only a fine save from Maya Diederichsen in the Redbacks goal prevented the visitors from taking the lead.

The home team came out for the second half with more urgency and almost took the lead in the 49th minute. Georgia Crawley’s through ball found Lauren Continibali in space. She rounded Stacey Cavill in the Curtin goal but was forced wide in the process and could only cut the ball back into the area. Sarah Carroll was able to get to the ball and fired a curling shot towards goal. Cavill had recovered by this stage and was able to push the ball out, but only as far as the waiting Continibali, who opted for placement rather than power and Cavill was able to pull off a terrific double save.

The breakthrough finally arrived in the 73rd minute when a throw-in found its way to Kizanne Mulder in the 18-yard box. Her looping cross broke to Carla Bennett who showed great technique to swivel nicely and hit a first-time right-foot shot into the roof of the net, giving the home team the lead.

Curtin refused to give up though and in the 81st minute substitute Jessica Darmago collected the ball inside her half and then outstripped three Redback defenders down the right wing before being brought down by Melanie Doeglas just outside the Redbacks penalty area, Doeglas earning a yellow card in the process. Emma Ylias headed home the resulting free kick for a deserved equaliser, much to the delight of her teammates and the travelling Curtin support. Curtin nearly earned a famous victory in injury time when Megan Connop headed another free kick just wide.

The final game of the round was a heavyweight match between league leaders MUM FC and pre-season title favourites Fremantle City. The game had to be moved to MUM FC’s home ground as overnight rain had made Fremantle’s pitch unplayable.

In cold and blustery conditions both sides were keenly aware of the importance of this game, as dropped points by Fremantle could seriously damage their title hopes, whilst MUM would not want to allow the chasing teams to get closer. There were also many ex-players from Queens Park on the field, so both sides were acutely aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

The opening 20 minutes were very cagey, but in the 22nd minute Laura Waltman picked up the ball inside her half and strode forward unopposed into MUM FC territory. Her pass released Evie Marchetti but her shot was well saved by Danelle Cornish in the MUM FC goal.

A sickening clash in the 37th minute between MUM FC’s Ellie La Monte and Fremantle’s Tash Rigby saw both players require lengthy treatment. With eyes only on the ball, the pair clashed heads and both had to leave the field. La Monte was able to return but the Perth Glory skipper’s game was over.

It remained scoreless at the break, and if anything the game became even tighter in the second half with neither side able to keep the ball long enough to exert any sustained pressure. There was a flashpoint in the final minute of regulation time as Fremantle’s Jayme Lee Smith chased a loose ball. MUM FC goalkeeper Cornish came flying out of her area to clear the danger but collided with the Fremantle striker. Referee Stephen Knight pulled out a yellow card for Cornish, but she was fortunate it wasn’t a red as the challenge was very reckless. The resulting free-kick was of no consequence, and the final whistle blew shortly afterwards bringing this tight and absorbing game to an end.

LADDER

Round 8 Fixtures (23rd Aug)

Football West Hyundai NTC vs Curtin University
Balcatta FC vs MUM FC
Subiaco vs Northern Redbacks
Fremantle City vs Perth SC