Salisbury Inter 3-2 West Adelaide
Salisbury Inter came from behind twice to win their first ever SA NPLW Grand Final, thanks to a goal from Chilean international Cote Rojas with three minutes of normal time remaining.
These two sides, who have been so dominant this season, were both out to win their first Grand Final and become the first team other than Adelaide City or Metro United to win South Australia’s top women’s football prize in 13 years.
It was a hugely entertaining game played in bright sunshine and witnessed by a large crowd at Mount Barker’s Summit Sports and Recreation Park. A strong wind favoured West Adelaide in the first half.
West went into the game burdened by a winless record against Salisbury Inter in 2021, which included a 6-1 defeat in the first week of the Finals. In a bid to try and combat Inter’s attacking prowess, they brought in Siena Covino to add some defensive ballast to the midfield and she kept close to Rojas throughout.
Within two minutes, West took the lead as sharpshooter Nicole Tilley got down the left, dispossessed Sharni Tansell and squared the ball for Georgia Macri to score via a deflection off Mina Nishitani.
It took 13 minutes for Inter to fashion their first chance and it fell to Rojas when she received Tansell’s glorious ball over the top, but her effort went over the bar.
Seven minutes later, Tilley was involved again for ‘Hellas’ as she played the ball between Chantelle Ryder’s legs to Christie Hillyer, whose shot was gathered by Inter keeper Matilda Comley. The Black and Blues responded immediately as Rojas broke through but Covino incredibly made up lost ground and denied the Chilean.
Despite having so much possession and territory, West lost their lead just before the half hour mark. From the second corner in a row, this time from the left, Nishitani played the flag kick towards the massed ranks of players at the near post. West keeper Erin Murphy couldn’t put a firm hand on the ball and Tasmanian star Emily Heazlewood got the final touch at the near post to level the scores.
Buoyed by their goal, Inter applied the pressure. Heazlewood and Tansell combined to force another corner which Emily Condon took, leading to more chaos at the near post as Nicole Calder’s header came back off the bar. They had a further chance before the interval when Anna Pritchard’s effort from just outside the box was held by Murphy.
Inter had the advantage of the wind in the second half, but it was West who started on the front foot and gained large amounts of space in midfield. Their reward came within three minutes of the restart as Emily Hodgson and Maddie DuRieu combined to set up Tilley. Her first shot came back off Condon, but she made no mistake with her second as she rifled home the rebound.
Behind for the second time, Salisbury Inter hit back hard and dominated the majority of the remaining forty minutes. They lost Heazelwood to a tough tackle, but rode that setback and earned a free-kick centrally just outside the ‘D’ after a handball by Laura Johns. Condon stepped up but Murphy held the shot.
Almost immediately afterwards, Rojas broke through, played onside because the ball came off a West defender. The Chilean looked all set to score before Covino got back once more to intercept.
The pressure continued from Inter and Murphy was forced into making a sensational save, pushing the ball over the bar. However, the dam finally burst with 79 minutes on the clock. Rojas turned Covino and found Dragana Kljajic, who turned and sent a beautiful effort into the far corner of the net.
By this time Erin Hood, the sole remaining player from Inter’s inaugural 2017 team, was on as a sub and she forced another great save from Murphy.
Then with three minutes of normal time left, the decisive moment for Inter. Tansell drove up the right hand side and found Condon. Her cross saw Rojas leap unchallenged and direct the ball into the far side of the net.
Despite West Adelaide’s best efforts, it was another Grand Final loss to add to those in 2017 and 2019.
Prior to this season, Salisbury Inter had never won any silverware in the SA WNPL. They won every single title up for grabs this year as they added Grand Final success to the Premiership and SA WNPL/WSL Cup titles they had also gained during the campaign.
Teams: SALISBURY INTER: Comley, Calder, Ryder, Nishitani, Condon, Pavlomanolakos, Tansell, Kljajic, Pritchard, Rojas, Heazlewood. Subs: Kouimtzis, Adam Khan (for Pavlomanolakos 71′) Vreugdenburg, Frazzetto, Mullen, Hood (for Heazlewood 57′).
Scorers: Heazlewood 26′, Kljajic 79′, Rojas 87′.
WEST ADELAIDE: Murphy, Hodgson, Psaroulis, Johns, Haralampopoulos, Atkins, Hillyer, DuRieu, Covino, Macri, Tilley. Subs: Hall, Adamopoulos, Glinz, Burnett (for Hillyer 71′), Nicola, Seaton, Samaoro.
Scorers: Nishitani (OG) 2′. Tilley 48′.
Referee: Joe-Jordan Tripodi.
Attendance: 1,726.
