There was action aplenty in the Harbour City as a number of clubs continued to stake their claim for a spot in the NSW NPLW finals. With only four places up for grabs in the knockout rounds this season, there’s no shortage of drama in yet another Beyond 90 weekly wrap!
Match of the Round – Macarthur Rams v Blacktown Spartans
Two goals from Macarthur Rams winger Laura Murtagh were enough to hand Blacktown Spartans its first defeat of season 2020 as last year’s finalists went down 2-0 at Lynwood Park on Sunday afternoon.
In an end-to-end match played under glorious clear winter skies, Blacktown dominated possession and territory for much of the 90 minutes, only to be undone by two clinical close-range volleys from Murtagh who stood out as the key attacking threat in a patient but assured Macarthur side.
Returning to action after a dour 1-1 draw against Illawarra Stingrays in the driving South Coast rain last week, Blacktown could have been forgiven for taking its time to work into the match.
However it was the visitors who were the first to test their opponents’ goalkeeper, with winger Ashlie Crofts stinging Shamiran Khamis’ palms with a well-directed long-range free kick after just nine minutes.
Content to play calmly out from the back through centre-half pair Renee Rollason and Ivana Galić, Macarthur were all-too-often caught dithering in possession as soon as the ball was passed into midfield, with Blacktown’s front four pressing quickly whenever the Rams advanced.
Even so, all the pressing and possession in the world couldn’t have saved the Spartans defence from conceding on the quarter-hour mark, as Mia Diacogiorgis sent a brilliant cross into the Blacktown box towards Murtagh, who capitalised on a Keisha Allen deflection to tap home unmarked at the back post and give her side the lead.
Blacktown went inches from equalising minutes later through wingback Charlotte Grant, whose industrious pass-and-move with striker Linda Dudek saw her fizz a side-footed shot just wide of Khamis’ far post from the top of the Rams box.
Rams striker Leena Khamis was first into the referee’s notebook, cynically stepping in front of a Blacktown free kick to slow down a Spartans attack after midfielder Natasha Prior had brought down former Rams player Rosie Galea in the centre circle.
Things almost went from bad to worse for the elder Khamis as she threatened to come to blows with fellow W-League star Kyra Cooney-Cross, with the pair exchanging words following a rough tackle five minutes from half-time.
With the clock winding down to the break Blacktown continued to pepper Khamis’ goal, three quick-fire Spartans attacks in the final three minutes of the first stanza forcing the Rams custodian into stunning saves from Dudek and Crofts either side of a goal-line clearance by Rollason to thwart Allen’s close-range header.
The two sides returned from the sheds re-invigorated and picked up essentially where they had left off, with Blacktown continuing to bombard the Rams goal only to be frustrated by a Macarthur side standing firm and willing to employ some of football’s Dark Arts, as illustrated by Galić’s 49th-minute yellow card for kicking the ball away before Spartans could take an attacking free-kick.
Those tactics must have worked though as Murtagh doubled her side’s advantage just five minutes later, sneaking between the two Spartans centre-halves and onto the end of another delightful Diacogiorgis cross, volleying home from the penalty spot past an onrushing Casey Dumont to net her second of the afternoon.
Spartans midfielder Cooney-Cross had the chance to pull a goal back for her side just before the hour mark, working a neat one-two passing move with fullback Grant, darting around Rams goalkeeper Khamis but only managing to rattle the woodwork from a tight angle.
Five minutes later Blacktown winger Crofts had her side’s best chance of the afternoon, running onto the end of a brilliant cutback from the ever-resourceful Grant, who could only watch as the Canberra United rookie crashed her shot into the crossbar from the penalty spot.
With her side pushing forward in an effort to claw back a result, Spartans substitute Bethany Gordon was booked in the 85th minute for a cynical foul on Zoe Dribbus to break up a potential Rams attack, and while the busy Patricia Charalambous spurned a glorious chance in second-half injury time, her side had done enough, earning the victory and a precious three points.
Macarthur Rams 2 (Laura Murtagh 16’ 54’)
Blacktown Spartans 0
Macarthur: Shamiran Khamis; Mia Diacogiorgis, Renee Rollason, Ivana Galić (yellow card 49’), Ashley Dribbus; Natasha Prior, Patricia Charalambous, Chrystal Duggan (Caitlin Orridge 85’); Zoe Dribbus, Leena Khamis (yellow card 35’), Laura Murtagh.
Blacktown: Casey Dumont; Charlotte Grant, Annabelle Daczko, Keisha Allen, Alix Roberts; Bethany Gordon (yellow card 85’), Kyra Cooney-Cross, Rosie Galea; Ashlie Crofts, Linda Dudek, Candace Sciberras (Tanya Borazio 85’).
Around The Grounds
Sydney Olympic 4 Illawarra Stingrays 3
Sydney University 1 Emerging Jets 0
Football NSW Institute 3 NW Sydney Koalas 2
Northern Tigers 0 Manly United 0
APIA Leichhardt 7 Bankstown City 1
| POS | TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | APIA Leichhardt | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 10 | 9 |
| 2 | Manly United | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| 3 | Sydney Olympic | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | Sydney University | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 5 | Macarthur Rams | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 6 | Northern Tigers | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 7 | Blacktown Spartans | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | NW Sydney Koalas | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 3 |
| 9 | Football NSW Institute | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 3 |
| 10 | Illawarra Stingrays | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | -4 | 1 |
| 11 | Emerging Jets | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 0 |
| 12 | Bankstown City | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 22 | -18 | 0 |
