NSW NPL Women’s Wrap – Round 10

It’s the penultimate round of a topsy-turvy NPLW NSW season. Join Beyond90 as we take a look back at another weekend of football in and around the Harbour City.

Match of the Round: Sydney University vs Northern Tigers

Two goals in 13 minutes from returning Matildas striker Michelle Heyman helped Sydney University to a 3-0 win over Northern Tigers at Arlington Oval on Sunday afternoon, clinching the side’s third successive NPLW NSW Premiership.

Defender Clare Wheeler finished off a superb team goal late in the second half to seal the result for the Students, extending the side’s undefeated streak to an incredible 30 games.

Having already sewn up a home semi-final, Sydney University went into the match with the fourth-placed Tigers knowing that a win would guarantee the club’s first piece of silverware for 2020.

Perhaps with that in mind, Uni coach Alex Epakis opted against rushing winger Nicki Flannery back into the starting line-up, instead opting to bring the Newcastle Jets W-League star off the bench, with the experienced trio of Julie-Ann Russell, Kendall Fletcher and Michelle Heyman leading the line, ably assisted by whippet-quick Annabel Martin on the right flank.

Tigers too had their own playoff ambitions, and with 10 of the 12 teams in the competition still mathematically able to make the finals this season, a result against the table-topping Students would just about seal the side’s run to the semis.

Unfortunately for the visitors, Uni were in no mood for charity, asserting their dominance inside the opening three minutes as Michelle Heyman drifted out to the left flank and clipped a delightful cross back across goal, only for it to softly riffle the roof of Clare Coelho’s net.

Just under two minutes later, Tigers’ defence was breached again, this time with more serious consequences. Floating attacking midfielder Fletcher found the waiting Heyman with a great short pass to the top of the Tigers’ box, where the striker expertly rolled former Canberra United teammate Ellie Brush, dinked the ball past the onrushing Isabella Foletta before making the most of a kind rebound and passing the ball into the bottom corner to open the scoring for Uni.

The Students had their second inside the quarter-hour mark, as Fletcher and Heyman combined again as part of a slick four-pass move from back to front, the striker timing her run into the Tigers penalty area to perfection and fizzing a low shot inside the far post to make it 2-0.

Wiser minds than this author have often posited that 2-0 is the most dangerous score in football, and the visitors slowly worked to make that prediction a reality as the first half ticked on, with Emma Watkins forcing Uni keeper Courtney Newbon into a magnificent diving save to deny her lofted effort from all of 30 yards.

Newbon would be made to sweat once again just before the break – and not just by the glorious Sydney spring weather – after Gabrielle Peak was robbed in broad daylight by Daisy Arrowsmith, the winger sprinting into the Uni penalty area only to harmlessly dribble her shot wide of the far post.

With Tigers causing further concern for the Students the longer the second half wore on, Heyman was given the perfect opportunity to complete her first hattrick since 2015, stepping up to the spot after Russell was clumsily brought down by Foletta in the box 20 minutes into the second half. It wasn’t to be however, as keeper Coelho dived to her left, saving Heyman’s weak attempt with her feet and clearing it to safety.

Tigers had a chance of their own just prior to the halfway mark of the second stanza, as the industrious Lauren Allen had two long-range shots blocked before firing on goal from just inside the Uni penalty area, only for her left-footed strike to land safely in the waiting hands of keeper Newbon.

Demi Koulizakis had a chance to seal all three points for Uni with just over 10 minutes of regulation time remaining, running onto a delightful long pass from Fletcher deep inside her own half, though the substitute striker could only watch as her left-footed shot from just outside the Tigers penalty area rolled agonisingly wide.

Koulizakis would more than repay her teammates for that mistake however, setting up Wheeler for what would be the final goal of the match with a sweet one-two move at the top of the Tigers’ box, laying the ball perfectly into the midfielder’s path for her to rifle into the roof of the net from 15 metres out, handing her side three points and the league title.

Sydney University 3 (Heyman 5’ 13’ Wheeler 84’)
Northern Tigers 0

University: Courtney Newbon; Gabrielle Peak (Taren King 68’), Tori Tumeth, Clare Hunt, Tiana Jaber (Nickoletta Flannery 58’); Bianca Galić, Clare Wheeler; Julie-Ann Russell, Kendall Fletcher, Annabel Martin; Michelle Heyman (Demi Koulizakis 69’).

Tigers: Clare Coelho; Gema Simon, Ellie Brush, Greta Kraszula (Sophie de Montemas 74’), Isabella Foletta; Emma Watkins (Zoe Halpin 84’), Hannah McNulty (Beth Bernardi 60’), Maddie Bart; Lauren Allen, Maxine Peak (Saba Murray 84’), Daisy Arrowsmith (yellow card 61’).

Around the Grounds
Bankstown City 0 Blacktown Spartans 2
Illawarra Stingrays 2 NW Sydney Koalas 1
Football NSW Institute 0 Sydney Olympic 2
Macarthur Rams 0 Manly United 6
APIA Leichhardt 2 Emerging Jets 0