SA NPLW Wrap Round 18

Match of the Round: WEST ADELAIDE v SALISBURY INTER:

The league’s two most dominant sides went head-to-head under lights at TK Shutter Reserve on Saturday night.

Last time out, Nicole Tilley’s thunderous strike into the near top corner from Zoe Haralampopoulos’ deep, floating through ball wasn’t enough to earn all three points for West, as they were held to a 2-2 draw by NTC after conceding a 92nd minute equaliser.  

Inter suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to a rejuvenated Metro last weekend, only their second loss of 2021 in all competitions. They missed out on the chance to reduce the gap to leaders West Adelaide.

This was a potentially season-defining game. Victory for West would give the league leaders an almost unassailable lead at the top, whereas Inter knew wins here and in their game in hand would see them snatch top spot.

The outcome was a scoreline that no one predicted and one that could have a major influence on the destination of this season’s title.

With 13 minutes played, an Inter corner from the left found Dragana Kljajic in space. Her first effort was blocked, but she calmly shot home from the rebound.

Just past the 20 minute mark, Salisbury Inter doubled their lead when a long ball found Cote Rojas, who galloped into the box and side-footed an effort into the net.

Inter’s third was almost a carbon copy of their second goal as a through ball bisected the Hellas defence and found Emily Heazlewood just to the left of centre. As keeper Sarah Willacy came to meet her, Heazlewood squared a pass to Rojas and the Chilean shot into an unguarded goal.

It was 4-0 before the break when Nicole Calder rose highest to nod home a corner from the right-hand side.

West pulled a goal back with seven minutes left when Nicole Tilley broke free down the right and her cross went straight into the left-hand side of the net, however this goal was only small consolation as Hellas sunk to only their second loss of the campaign.

The good news kept coming for Salisbury Inter – a 5-0 victory in their Tuesday night catchup game against Adelaide University has taken them to the top of the table with only three rounds remaining.

ADELAIDE COMETS v FULHAM UNITED

Round 18 of WNPL action kicked off on Friday night at VALO Football Centre with sixth-placed Comets taking on a Fulham outfit who’ve hit a rich vein of form over the past fortnight.

Comets will have been happy to have come away from their last fixture against Adelaide City with a point, especially given their patchy recent form, but had a penalty saved which could’ve proven the difference in a match that finished 0-0. 

Fulham almost backed up their win over Uni last weekend with an impressive result in mid-week against Metro, but they were cruelly denied by a late Metro goal that sent them to a 2-1 defeat and kept them rooted to the bottom of the table. 

Comets took the lead courtesy of the in-form Valeria Guajardo after 56 minutes when she acrobatically diverted a cross from the left into the net. She grabbed her second 20 minutes later when Fulham’s defence failed to deal with a high free kick into the box, clearing the ball straight to Guajardo who took a touch, turned and fired home on the half-volley.

It was 3-0 with seven minutes to go when Nanako Sasaki had a ball squared to her on the right-hand edge of the box and she rifled a great shot into the top left corner, condemning cellar-dwellers Fulham United to their 13th defeat from 18 WNPL games this season.

ADELAIDE UNIVERSITY v FOOTBALL SA NTC

The second game of Friday night’s doubleheader was another bottom half battle, with both Uni and NTC having plenty on the line entering the home stretch of the season.

Uni’s comfortable buffer on bottom-of-the-table Fulham has evaporated in recent weeks. Last week’s 3-1 defeat to Fulham meant the gap between the two sides was reduced to just two points with plenty of football left to play.

Meanwhile, NTC earned a big point against high flying West last weekend, as they came from behind to snatch a 2-2 draw thanks to a 92nd minute equaliser by Abby Middleton, who turned home a loose ball from a corner to keep her side in touch with the top four. 

It was NTC who took the points with a single goal after 22 minutes. Despite the six yard box being extremely congested, Ella Tonkin was left unmarked to head home a corner that came in from the right.

ADELAIDE CITY v METRO UNITED:

What looked like an ordinary fixture a few weeks ago now took on extra significance, with last season’s grand finalists separated by just two points in third and fourth respectively. 

Adelaide City failed to win for the fourth successive match last week and perhaps were fortunate to come away with a point after keeper Kendall Jenner saved a second-half penalty, as they were held to a goalless draw by Adelaide Comets.  

Metro were coming off a 2-1 midweek win over Fulham, thanks to Rochelle Draper’s speculative first-time strike from 30 yards that sailed high and remarkably sneaked under the crossbar in the 88th minute.

In this game, City went ahead just before halftime when Isabel Hodgson was allowed to run between two Metro defenders and slot home.

Daniela di Bartolo doubled the hosts’ lead on the hour mark when she ran down the right and played a ball into the box for Chelsie Dawber. United keeper Melanie Comyns quickly smothered Dawber’s shot only for it to rebound out to di Bartolo, who hit a first time shot into the net from the right-hand side of the box.

Dawber made it 3-0 with 20 minutes to go as a low ball was played across the box towards her at the back post and a simple tap was all that the Adelaide United W-League star needed.

TABLE: