NSW NPL Women’s Wrap – Round 4

Rain, rain, go away! The heavens opened in Sydney this week, and with it came postponed matches, venue changes, and a footballing chess match in Dulwich Hill. Beyond 90 takes another look back at the week that was.

Match of the Round: Sydney University vs APIA Leichhardt

Reigning NPLW NSW champions Sydney University handed high-flying APIA Leichhardt its first loss of the season, defeating the top-flight newcomers 2-0 at a rain-soaked Arlington Oval on Sunday afternoon.

A free-kick howitzer from Rachel Soutar and a late sealer from Tori Tumeth were enough to hand the Students all three points, a result which sees University climb to equal-first on points with Sydney Olympic.

Keen NPLW viewers would likely have circled this date on their calendars when the fast-tracked post-COVID fixture list was released, with two of the best rosters in the league facing off for bragging rights as we barrel towards the 2020 NPLW finals.

With winter storms lashing much of New South Wales over the weekend, fixture congestion and pitch conditions at Sydney University forced the match to be moved to the artificial turf of Arlington Oval in Sydney’s inner west, giving both teams a chance to play on a surface befitting the occasion.

Missing striker Nicki Flannery and midfielder Grace Maher through injury, Uni coach Alex Epakis instead opted for a two-pronged attack of Soutar and Irish international Julie-Ann Russell, while the usually defensive-minded Kendall Fletcher slotted into the space behind the strikers in a midfield diamond.

APIA meanwhile returned to their familiar 4-4-2 formation, with tenacious midfielder Jennifer Bisset locking down the claret-and-blue midfield once again, in front of an experienced defence featuring three W-League starters and a promising Young Matilda.

APIA’s best-laid plans lasted under a minute however, as centre-back Elizabeth Ralston was carried from the field in the opening stages with what appeared to be a recurrence of a hamstring injury, reminiscent of the one she sustained midway through the 2019-20 W-League season.

Ralston’s replacement Julia de Angelis was called into action moments later, giving chase as Uni winger Teigan Collister tracked down a long diagonal pass from defender Taren King, but the substitute could do little to stop her opponent wriggling free and firing on the APIA goal from a tight angle, forcing keeper Sophie Magus into a diving parry inside the opening 10 minutes.

With University happy to play in their usual style and soak up possession, APIA looked to carve a more direct route to goal, with Rhianna Pollicina almost embarrassing keeper Courtney Newbon as her innocuous-looking 25-metre shot forced Newbon to scramble for a rebound on the quarter-hour mark.

Minutes later the woodwork came to Uni’s rescue once again as Jaber stumbled in the box and gave away possession to the ever-potent Georgia Yeoman-Dale, but the APIA striker could only watch as her shot from close range cannoned back off the near post before being cleared off the goal line by defender Gabrielle Peak.

Just before the half-hour the Students crafted an opportunity of their own from a Soutar free kick, the striker whipping in an expert delivery to Tumeth on the six-yard box, although the defender’s wayward header was more trouble for locals enjoying the adjacent JF Laxton Reserve than for APIA stopper Magus.

Uni had a gilt-edged chance moments later thanks to a brilliant Collister cross from the right causing havoc in the APIA penalty area, but first Fletcher and then Soutar had their shots deflected and turned away by the scrambling defence from inside the six-yard box.

Emerging from the Arlington Oval sheds to the same teeming rain that had featured for most of the first half, the two sides found themselves now playing on a surface more akin to an elite hockey field, the ball zipping across the pitch followed by a comet’s tail of spray from the wet turf.

That added fizz almost undid APIA after ten minutes of the second stanza, as Russell played a delightful through-ball to set Collister away down the left wing. With only de Angelis for company, Collister disposed of her marker near the APIA by-line, forcing a smart save from keeper Magus at the front post.

https://twitter.com/eric_subijano/status/1292347738063900672

Eight minutes later, Sydney Uni took the lead in spectacular style; capitalising on a controversial handball decision against APIA midfielder Ashleigh Palombi, the Students executed a perfect three-person free-kick routine, ending with Soutar blasting her shot into the top corner from all of 30 yards.

Uni had the bit between its teeth now, and with the one-goal advantage continued to patiently probe for an opening between APIA’s lines while both teams made sure to continue the battle for physical control over the midfield.

The Students’ second goal however was not quite as much the oil painting as the first; lobbing a free kick into the APIA penalty area from the centre circle with 13 minutes to play, Tumeth could only stand and watch as her delivery confounded all and sundry in the Leichhardt defence, bouncing harmlessly into the net and doubling Uni’s advantage.

APIA themselves would put the ball in the back of the net through Amy Dahdah with nine minutes to play, the substitute looping a mis-hit shot from close range into the top corner, only for the referee’s assistant to flag her for offside in the lead-up to her effort on goal.

Pushing for that reply continually left APIA short of numbers at the back, and with Teigen Allen making her customary raids down the right flank, University were happy to play counter-attacking football, playing into space as players tracked back into poition.

With time ticking down, APIA went close to dragging a goal back from a set piece, only for Deborah-Anne de la Harpe’s free kick to bounce agonisingly away from substitute Dahdah at the back post and out for a goal kick, sealing Leichhardt’s fate and gifting three points to a worthy Sydney University side.

Sydney University 2 (Rachel Soutar 62’ Tori Tumeth 77’)
APIA Leichhardt 0

University: Courtney Newbon; Tiana Jaber, Tori Tumeth, Taren King, Gabrielle Peak (Stephanie Augoustis 66′); Teigan Collister, Kendall Fletcher (Sarah Morgan 72′), Bianca Galić, Clare Wheeler; Rachel Soutar, Julie-Ann Russell (Carla Trimboli 87′).

APIA: Sophie Magus; Deborah-Anne de la Harpe, Elizabeth Ralston (Julia de Angelis 5’), Alexandra Huynh, Teigen Allen; Ashleigh Palombi (Amy Dahdah), Jennifer Bissett (yellow card 59′), Rhianna Pollicina, Tara Pender; Princess Ibini, Georgia Yeoman-Dale. 

Around the Grounds

Blacktown Spartans 3 Manly United 0
Bankstown City 1 Sydney Olympic 5
Football NSW Institute 3 Illawarra Stingrays 0
Emerging Jets vs Northern Tigers – postponed
NW Sydney Koalas vs Macarthur Rams – postponed