NSW NPL Women’s Wrap – Round 7

As quickly as Sydneysiders were digging out their beanies and gloves, the winter chills have been banished by Mother Nature, replaced this weekend with sparkling blue sky and warm sunshine. Beyond 90 takes a look back at the last of this winter’s NSW NPLW matches.

Match of the Round: Manly United vs North West Sydney Koalas

Manly United striker Tara Andrews hit the crossbar with a long-range shot and had two point-blank efforts cleared off the line as her side played out an what seemed an impossibly-scoreless draw against North West Sydney Koalas at Cromer Park on Sunday afternoon.

2019-20 W-League Golden Boot winner Remy Siemsen also drew two fantastic saves from goalkeeper Katie Offer as her side did everything but put the ball in the net against a resilient counter-attacking Koalas side.

More than a few familiar faces took the pitch for either team with former Koalas player Andrews turning out for the locals, while winger Sophie Harding made the move in the opposite direction over the extended off-season.

With such familiarity between the teams, it was little wonder the match developed into such a tight contest, both sides unwilling to give an inch in defence and apparently unable to take their chances in attack.

The home side had the best of the early play, Siemsen firing the first shot in anger after nine minutes, her effort from well inside the Koalas penalty area saved by Offer down low.

Manly midfielder Jane Vanzino was next to try her luck, harrying defender Alisha Bass out of possession in a dangerous position but pulling her shot from 20 metres wide of the far post.

Manly continued to press for an opener, turning Koalas around time and again with good runs down the wings from the overlapping Ally Green and Emily Minett, but it was the visitors who had the first shot on target after 28 minutes, though an unfortunate bobble at the key moment forced Tahlia Macri to shoot harmlessly to a grateful Nicole Simonsen.

Three minutes later and Andrews almost created a moment of magic from midfield; collecting a poor Offer clearance just inside the Koalas half, the Manly striker caught the visiting keeper well off her line and launched an audacious chip towards goal, only for it to rattle the crossbar and bounce back into the field of play.

With the clock ticking down to halftime, Siemsen had another gilt-edged opportunity to put her side into the lead, latching onto a glorious Cassidy Davis vertical pass to find herself alone in front of the onrushing Offer, only to shank her attempt and send it flying out towards South Creek Road.

Revitalised from the break, Koalas wrestled control of the game back in the opening minutes of the second half, as Harding made a brilliant run through the Manly defence, only for her misdirected cut-back to find a retreating opposition player and fizzle into nothing.

Amazingly, despite the two sides’ plethora of attacking opportunities, it was Koalas’ defender Keiko Tanaka who was the first to see her name pencilled in referee Maddie Allen’s little black book, picking up a caution after unwittingly blocking a stinging Remy Siemsen cross with her arm just outside the penalty area on the hour mark.

Moments later, Manly coach Chris Williams withdrew wingback Emily Minett in favour of Libby Copus-Brown, whose industry and pace had North West Sydney’s defenders back-pedalling with almost immediate effect as she tore up and down the flank.

Only 10 minutes later, Siemsen was almost the beneficiary of Copus-Brown’s wizardry, picking the striker out with a delightful lofted ball only for her final headed touch to bounce against the post and away to safety.

As Manly looked to push forward in the final minutes, Andrews had not one but two close-range efforts saved following a Copus-Brown corner: the first, a towering header parried away by Offer; the second, a scuffed shot palmed to safety by the Koalas stopper.

Moments later Andrews was close to causing further destruction in the Koalas defence, sending two defenders to the shops with a masterful shift of the ball at the top of the box only to watch her shot cannon into the far post.

It was Siemsen who would have the final chance of the match – and one she would be having nightmares about in the nights that followed; with Andrews cut down at the top of the box, Siemsen found herself one-on-one with the keeper adjacent to the penalty spot, and with the goal at her mercy she shot weakly and too close to Offer, forcing yet another match-defining save from the Koalas keeper and resigning the teams to a share of the spoils.

Manly United 0
North West Sydney Koalas 0

Manly: Nicole Simonsen; Corinne Winkler, Cassidy Davis, Nicole Stuart (Emily Bastow 58’); Ally Green, Chloe O’Brien, Jane Vanzino (Grace Arnold 68’), Claudia Cholakian (Kahli Johnson 84) Emily Minett (Elizabeth Copus-Brown 61’); Tara Andrews, Remy Siemsen.

NW Sydney: Katie Offer; Emma Ilijoski, Keiko Tanaka (yellow card 60’), Erin Pridmore, Ariella Cabezas; Gemma Gray (Olivia Schembri 87’) Natalie Tobin, Alisha Bass; Tahlia Macri (Siobhan Edwards 84’), Morgan Roberts (Monique Holder 90’+4), Sophie Harding.

Around the Grounds
Bankstown City 0 Football NSW Institute 9
Emerging Jets 0 Illawarra Stingrays 2
Sydney University 0 Blacktown Spartans 0
Northern Tigers 0 APIA Leichhardt 0
Macarthur Rams 0 Sydney Olympic 6