SA NPLW Round 11 Wrap

Round 11 of SA NPLW action kicked off on Friday night as Adelaide University took on league leaders West Adelaide at VALO Football Centre in a fixture between two sides desperate for victory for vastly different reasons.

Uni suffered a 1-0 defeat for the second round running when they were last in action a fortnight ago against Adelaide Comets. Their struggles in front of goal continued while West remained top of the table, despite a draw with Metro United.

As expected, the game went with the form book as West maintained their grip on the top of the table following a 3-0 win, but it took them a while to make the breakthrough.

West sealed the points with three goals in the final twenty-three minutes. First, on the hour mark, Mawa Sumaoro finally forced home Nicole Tilley’s free-kick from the right after Adelaide University missed several opportunities to clear.

Tilley doubled West’s advantage when she grabbed her customary goal by lifting the ball over the Uni keeper after a cross found her on the left-hand side of the box. Maddie Durieu sealed Hellas’ win with three minutes left when she flicked the ball in with the outside of her foot as a corner came in from the left.

Following at the same venue was Adelaide Comets clash with second-placed Salisbury Inter in the battle of the black and blue.

Comets went into the game just four points outside the top four, albeit with a hefty goal deficit while Inter, with Cote Rojas in sumptuous form, were determined to close the gap on West Adelaide at the top.

In the end, Inter ran out comfortable 6-1 winners with the game effectively decided in the opening eight minutes when they hit two early goals. First, Nicole Calder forced the ball home near the left-hand post after a corner, despite a defender being positioned on the line. Chantelle Ryder made it 2-0 when Comets failed to deal with another corner and she was on hand to score from close range.

Cote Rojas continued her red hot goal scoring form just after the half-hour mark when she turned a defender and fired a shot into the far right-hand corner of the net.

Esther Heywood-Smith gave Comets some hope on the hour mark when she curled a delightful effort past the despairing dive of Matilda Comley in the Inter goal and into the right corner of the net from the edge of the area

There was then a lull in the goal-scoring until the final twenty minutes. Rojas grabbed her second when a low cross in from the right found her unmarked in the centre of the six-yard box and the Chilean turned it home with ease. Six minutes later, Dragana Kljajic made it 5-1 when Comets’ attempted clearance from a corner fell to her and she lofted to ball straight into the net.

Emily Condon completed the rout in stoppage time when she controlled a high ball into the box and rolled the ball across the keeper into the net.

Saturday’s action began at Adelaide City Park where in-form Adelaide City hosted rock-bottom Fulham United.

After a worrying start to the campaign, City have won their last three SA NPLW games. With Fulham conceding far too many goals and finding it very tough to score them, it was the perfect game for City to continue their push up the table.

City’s W-League stars were all over the scoreboard as they condemned Fulham to a 6-0 defeat. It took 29 seconds for Chelsie Dawber to score the first of her four goals for the afternoon. She ran onto a long ball, turned a Fulham defender, and hit a shot into the far corner across the goalkeeper.

Caitlin White stepped up on the quarter-hour mark to double City’s lead when she received a low cross into the box and, unmarked hit a simple effort into the net. Dawber made it 3-0 just before the break when she curled a free kick in from the edge of the box.

Seven minutes into the second half, Dawber grabbed her hat-trick when she was allowed to run through the Fulham defence and fire a powerful shot home. She made it 5-0 eight minutes from the end after running between two defenders to touch a cross in from close range.

Isabel Hodgson completed the scoring three minutes from time after a catalogue of errors from Fulham who initially lost possession when attempting to play out from the back. City then played a ball across the box where Hodgson had the freedom of Adelaide to score.

The final game of the round at TK Shutter Reserve was a fascinating looking encounter between defending champions Metro United and the hugely talented Football SA NTC side who have put in a number of outstanding performances this season.

Metro came into the game buoyed by holding leaders West Adelaide to a 2-2 draw after coming from behind twice. Despite the fact that both sides went into the game having proven themselves to be very capable of finding the back of the net (with 20 and 22 goals respectively), the outcome was a 0-0 draw.

Metro United had the best two opportunities to score. First, 37 minutes when they played a free-kick in from the left and NTC keeper Libby Davy parried a shot brilliantly with a defender on the line blocking the follow-up. Then, with four minutes to go another outstanding piece of goalkeeping by Davy and another block on the line from her defence earned NTC a point.

SA WNPL/WSA Cup Semi-Final Draw News

In the first semi-final at VALO Football Centre on 30^th July, Salisbury Inter will take on Adelaide City currently placed in second and third place in the SA NWPL respectively. Whoever runs out winners of that clash will face the winner of the second semi between Adelaide Comets and Metro United at the same venue on the same night.

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