Image Credits: Tori Huster (Photo by Tony Quinn/ISI Photos/Getty Images), Nicole Begg ​​(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images), Angie Beard (Instagram), Teresa Polias (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
Image Credits: Tori Huster (Photo by Tony Quinn/ISI Photos/Getty Images), Nicole Begg ​​(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images), Angie Beard (Instagram), Teresa Polias (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

COVID is the unwanted gift that just keeps on giving – shoutout to anyone and everyone in lockdown and/or affected by this beast.

In this podcast Eric, Steffen, Rhali, and Cheryl talk about the Hot Topics of the week, including a potential Matildas documentary, plus NPLW wraps for NSW, ACT and VIC.

Steffen gives us his regular Nordic wrap as we’re scrambling to watch football around the world, particularly given we can’t watch it here.

 

Hot Topics

  • Post-Olympic press conference with James Johnson & Tony Gustavsson
  • Defence is on the table for our discussion as well as “does anyone have a 6”?

Around the World

Nordic

Norway Toppserien Round 11 (of 18)

  • LSK Kvinner FK (Karly Roestbakken) played Klepp IL (Nikola Orgill) at LSK Hall, with LSK grabbing a 2-0 home win which sees them climb to 3rd after Sandviken beat Rosenborg 2-0 at home, and Vålerenga drew 1-1 away at Avaldsnes 
  • Karly flew out at the end of the week to Norway after working on her rehab here in Australia
  • Both teams also had midweek cup wins, LSK 0-9 vs tier 2 Kongsvinger, and Klepp 0-3 vs tier 2 Viking FK 

Sweden Damallsvenskan Round 13 (of 22)

Denmark Round 2 (of 14) 

  • (2) Fortuna Hjørring (Indiah Paige Riley, Clare Wheeler, Angie Beard, Alex Huynh) 
    • R2 at home vs Nordsjælland, 2-0 win
      • First start for Clare Wheeler, Angie Beard also started
      • Indi Riley came on in the 64th minute (and copped a cheese slice)
      • Alex Huynh not listed on the team sheet

Iceland Round 15 (of 18)

NPLW Roundup

  1. NSW – the season was officially cancelled last week 🙁 , so we have reviewed the teams, in order of their league position at the time of lockdown.

Sydney Olympic (1st, 26 pts): Impressively, they managed to stay at the top despite not having Teresa Polias for a month. Teigan Collister was their top scorer with 7 goals. Mackenzie Hawkesby bagged 6 goals from midfield and was brilliant, she carried her Sydney FC form into the NPL NSW season.

Northern Tigers (2nd, 23 pts): Jet-heeled forward Lauren Allan scored 7 goals in 12 games, exactly the same record as in 2020. Winonah Heatley really caught the eye in central defence and earned a move to Sweden. Aideen Keane also earned a Nordic move after some strong displays on the wing and is now in Iceland. We like College Matildas content, so we have to mention Greta Kraszula (defender), Brianna Edwards (goalkeeper) and Siobhan Edwards (forward), who are now in the USA.

Macarthur Rams (3rd, 23 pts): There’s been a revival at Lynwood Park after the appointment of Stephen Peters as head coach in the offseason. Leena Khamis led the way with … 7 goals (we sense a theme developing). At B90, we love Canberra United, so it was great to see Lauren Keir, Hayley-Taylor Young and Rachael Goldstein receive plenty of game time.

APIA Leichhardt (4th, 22 pts): Head coach Spencer Prior threw a formation change at them during the season (from 4-3-3 to 3-4-3), and they handled it well. The multi-talented Georgia Yeoman-Dale lined up on the right side of a back three and was excellent as always. 16 year old Claudia Cicco played in every game as a right back / right wing-back, definitely a player with a lot of potential and she even has her own chant! Sophie Hoban was another player who took her opportunities, going from the Reserves to starting for the 1st Grade side as a centre forward. Of course, we can’t talk about APIA without mentioning one of Steffen’s favourite players, Grace Maher (#AmazingGrace) – she showed her usual technique and game smarts, and grabbed a few goals as well.

Sydney University (5th, 20 pts): In the spirit of sucking up to parents, Emma Ilijoski did well as Uni’s left-back … hi Kathryn :). First-time head coach (and Leeds United fan) Em Husband did a good job keeping them competitive despite the loss of a number of key players. Kaitlyn Torpey was their top scorer with … 7 goals (lol).

Illawarra Stingrays (6th, 20 pts): The team sometimes known as “pink WSW” were in the mix, as is usually the case. Michelle Carney was the league’s top scorer with nine goals, or as I said during one of my calls, “Michelle Carney does Michelle Carney things”. Our Molly Appleton loves Talitha Kramer, and it was great to see her back in pink, scoring 5 times and generally causing havoc as a left-winger. We love a link back to the NPL Capital Football competition, so shoutout to former Belconnen United star Bronte Pyke for some good performances with the Stingrays.

Football NSW Institute (7th, 19 pts): With Darcey Malone pulling the strings in midfield, Institute were usually a difficult opponent and were what you’d expect from an NTC program. Charlie Rule scored six times and continues to be one of the brightest young talents in the competition. Holly McNamara also impressed (5 goals) and I’m hoping that we see her in the W-League next season.

Blacktown Spartans (8th, 18 pts): Plenty of players from the Future Matildas signed up for the Spartans in 2021 and this resulted in some impressive performances. It’s a shame we won’t get to see what this squad could have achieved with more time together. Rosie Galea was a real standout, whether playing in central midfield or on the wing, and showed why she was named the captain despite still being only 20 years old. Also some good news for Victory fans, Maja Markovski found some great form and was their top scorer with … 7 goals.

Manly United (9th, 16 pts): It was always going to be hard for Tom Hopley to follow legendary coach Chris Williams, who left Manly after their win in the 2020 Grand Final. There were plenty of positive signs nonetheless, Tara Andrews and Remy Siemsen continued to bang in the goals (six for both of them). I don’t think they played badly by any means, I think Manly have stayed at the same level while other teams have improved.

North West Sydney Koalas (10th, 10 pts): A win over Sydney Olympic showed their potential, so they must be hoping next year that they can find that form on a consistent basis. Alisha Bass was good in the centre of their defence, showing her versatility after being a central midfielder last year. This pod is timely because Sophie Harding (a.k.a. the NPL NSW version of the Road Runner) and Claire Coelho have just re-signed with Newcastle Jets.

Bankstown City (11th, 7 pts): Most importantly, they broke a 714 day winless streak by defeating Illawarra Stingrays 1-0 in Round 9. If they can keep this group of players together and make a few key additions, they’ll move up the table next year. Olivia Price and Liana Danaskos were solid in central midfield all season.

Emerging Jets (12th, 0 pts): With the Jets, you have to remember that player development is the goal, so I wouldn’t read too much into them being at the bottom of the ladder. Mona Walker (midfield), Milan Hammond (forward) and Chloe Walandouw (defence) were a few of the players that impressed me when I saw them play. Hopefully, some of these players earn W-League contracts, it helps that Ash Wilson coaches this side as well as being the Jets W-League coach.

  1. ACT – Round 18
    1. No games, the ACT is in lockdown 🙁
  2. VIC
    1. NPLW
      • Suspended until at least 11:59pm Thursday 19/8 
      • Last round played 17 of 21 (August 1st) – Highlights 
      • Catchups for 8,9,10,18
  3. Nike FC Cup – Quarter Finals
    1. Final 4
      • Calder United – 3 time winners
        • Catherine Zimmerman, Harriet Withers, Julia Sardo
      • FC Bulleen Lions – 1 time winners
        • Caitlin Friend, Alex Natoli, Rebekah Stott, Tiff Eliadis, Gabby Garton (GK), Tyla Vlajnic, Kayla Morrison
      • Box Hill United – 1 time winners
        • Beth Mason-Jones (GK) 
      • South Melbourne FC – Melina Ayres, Melissa Barbieri, Sofia Sakalis, Naomi Chinnama, Nat Martineau

Queen of the Week

Eric loves a precision left-footed cross. Angie Beard delivered a beauty from out wide for Fortuna Hjorring’s second goal in their 2-0 win over FC Nordsjelland. Shoutout to FNX Sports for posting a clip of this goal on their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

 

Dale picks Tori Huster who scored a GOTY contender for Washington in its 2-2 draw at Houston. Picked the ball up 70m from goal on the counter and went the length of the field to score. Reminiscent of de Vanna vs City last season.


Rhali gives props to Teresa Polias, and Steffen picks Nicole Begg again as Nicole and Mick welcomed baby Jim Begg into the world in the last week.

Don’t forget we’re live on Facebook on Monday evenings and you can subscribe to the Beyond 90 Podcast on iTunes, Spotify & Google Podcasts or anywhere you listen.

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Beyond 90 chronicles, promotes and ignites conversation about women’s football.
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