Round 12 of WNPL action kicked off on Friday night with a blockbuster contest between two of the league’s powerhouses, as second-placed Salisbury Inter took on third-placed Adelaide City at VALO Football Centre.
Inter were clinical last weekend as they hit Comets for six, with a brace from Cote Rojas and goals from Nicole Calder, Chantelle Ryder, Dragana Kljajic and Emily Condon sealing a 6-1 win and keeping the pressure on West at the top.
City also hit six of the best in their thrashing of bottom club Fulham United. The highlights of the Chelsie Dawber’s four-goal haul include a curling left-foot strike across the keeper and a free-kick into the bottom corner on the edge of the box.
With City now boasting a run of four straight wins and Inter netting 11 goals in their last two outings, it was a tantalising encounter that could be a preview of things to come in the Finals.
As you would expect in a game between two top sides, it was close on the scoreboard. With 55 minutes gone, Inter keeper Matilda Comley was sent off. However, this would not impact the outcome from the Black and Blues’ perspective.
The only goal came in the 71st minute when Dragana Kljajic was brought down in the box by City keeper Kendall Jenner. Up stepped Emily Condon to nail the spot-kick.
Afterwards, at the same venue, Adelaide Comets took on league leaders West Adelaide.
Comets were on the wrong end of a 6-1 scoreline last weekend from second-placed Salisbury Inter. This kept them five points outside the top four whilst dealing a hammer blow to their goal difference (-17), with Fulham the only side sitting on a lower differential.
West kept hold of the top spot for another week after a comfortable 3-0 victory over Uni last time out. Nicole Tilley’s stabbed strike from a tight angle, her seventh of the season, was the pick of the goals on the night.
Tilley was absent due to a calf strain on the night, but the outcome of the game was not impacted. West stayed top and inflicted Comet’s second straight 6-1 defeat.
It took 10 minutes for West to take the lead when a corner was recycled and a cross came in from the right. The Comets failed to clear, giving Christie Hillyer the easiest of tap-ins.
With 25 minutes gone, it was 2-0 as Laura Johns was found on the left. She cut in slightly towards the box and lofted a glorious shot over Inana Toovey in the Comets’ goal.
The game was put to bed with two goals in sixty seconds just before half-time. First, a long, low ball through found Georgia Macri. Toovey advanced to the edge of the box to meet the West’s player, but Macri took the ball around the Comets custodian and rolled it into an empty net for 3-0. Then, Mawa Sumaoro hit a brilliant fourth when a dummy found her in the clear on the left of the box and she lifted the ball across Toovey into the top right-hand corner.
Six minutes into the second half, Sumaoro set up the fifth. A surging run along the left saw her play a 1-2 and then square the ball across the box for Maddie Durieu to side foot home.
Comets got a goal back with twenty minutes to go. West failed to clear a free-kick that cannoned back off of their wall and Yuka Sasaki grabbed a consolation. West restored their five-goal cushion two minutes later when Laura Johns grabbed her second of the night after a ball was cut back to her across the box and she fired home.
Saturday’s action began with the clash between Fulham United and Football SA NTC at the Adelaide Shores Football Centre.
NTC’s form has hit a snag in recent weeks with four matches without a victory and they came up against a Fulham outfit desperate to get on the mark in 2021.
Fulham were defeated by five goals or more for the third successive week, with a resurgent Adelaide City proving too powerful to contain in a heavy 6-0 loss that kept them rooted to the bottom of the table.
NTC played out a rare 0-0 stalemate against Metro United to keep them a point outside the top four, with a vital goal-line block by skipper Zoe Tolland preventing what appeared to be a certain goal and helping salvage a point.
This time, the NTC returned to winning ways, but only had Erin Kontoutsikos’ 36th minute strike to show for it. Fulham missed at least two chances to clear a corner before the ball fell to Kontoutsikos to fire a low shot into the bottom left-hand corner.
The final game of the round saw defending champions Metro United take on Adelaide University at TK Shutter Reserve.
Metro managed to cling onto a spot in the top half last weekend despite being unable to break down NTC in their match that finished 0-0. The draw meant they maintained a slender one-point buffer in the top half but fell five points behind the side immediately above them in Adelaide City.
Uni’s lean run continued last weekend as they fell to a 3-0 defeat to ladder leaders West, marking their fifth consecutive match without finding the back of the net, claiming only one point in that time.
Adelaide University, sporting their natty lime green and grey away kit, took the lead when Margarita Fitzharris ran onto a long ball and smashed the ball into the net on 37 minutes.
Metro claimed a dramatic late equaliser with just 57 seconds of normal time remaining when a corner was curled in from the right and flicked on to allow Roxanne Dodd to nod home from virtually on the goal line.
Table
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD | |
| West Adelaide | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 36 | 12 | 29 | + 24 |
| Salisbury Inter | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 36 | 10 | 27 | + 26 |
| Adelaide City | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 27 | 13 | 21 | + 14 |
| Football SA NTC | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 23 | 20 | 18 | + 3 |
| Metro United | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 21 | 17 | = |
| Adelaide Comets | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 16 | 38 | 11 | – 22 |
| Adelaide University | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 23 | 8 | – 13 |
| Fulham United | 12 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 37 | 2 | – 32 |
