Tasmania’s Women’s Super League returned this weekend with Kingborough Lions, Olympia FC Warriors and Clarence Zebras all registering wins in Round 1.
Ulverstone SC 1 (78′ Mikalha George) v Kingborough Lions United FC 3 (30′ 62′ Laura Davis, 64′ Kate Bonertz-Benn) at Ulverstone Showgrounds
The longest away trip in the WSL didn’t bother the travelling Lions, who came away from the Showgrounds with 3 points and 3 goals to boot.
Check out this amazing goal from Lions debutant Kate Bonertz-Benn.
Lions striker Laura Davis gave her thoughts after the match.
“Overall, we are happy with today’s end result,” Davis said.
“The group responded well to back-to-back road trips after last week’s cup win against Somerset, and we’re starting to gel really nicely as a squad.
“With the younger girls coming through this year it was also great to see them shine in today’s game.
“It’s still early in the season and we’ve got a few things we’d like to work on, but we’re really happy with how we’ve pushed through. Now we’re just going to focus on what will be our first home game of the season against Olympia.”
Match of the Round: Olympia FC Warriors v South Hobart FC
Olympia held off South Hobart in a 1-0 victory at Warrior Park, but this wasn’t a game where you would expect that scoreline. Warriors were WSL runners up last year, South on the other hand finished with the wooden spoon in 6th position.
The game started in the home side’s favour with Olympia having the majority of the ball and chances. Olympia’s Olivia Bomford went down in the penalty box after a tackle from South’s Eleni Moutsatsos that made the referee point to the spot. Bonnie Davies calmly finished her penalty into the bottom right corner past Georgia McMullen, giving the Warriors the lead.
Olympia’s Inocent Michael went down after a tackle from a South defender caused her to hit the deck hard. Club Manager Sarah Black ran out to assess the damage as it looked to be neck related, thankfully there was no major injury and Michael was able to continue.
Half time sounded and the Warriors had a 1-0 lead.
This game was really a story of two halves and you wouldn’t have known the Warriors were leading in the second. It was an entirely different South performance we were seeing, a lot more determined and driven to silence some doubters.
Olympia goalkeeper Jenna Farrow was called to action when she kept out South’s Pishon Choi. South’s Misty Olsen then launched a shot from long range which bounced off the cross bar. Olsen tried to follow up with a closer angled shot but Farrow was able to protect her net. Ruby Batchelor also had a great effort at Farrow’s near post but the goalkeeper was able to clear away for a corner.
Full time sounded and the Warriors had held on for their first three points of the season. They were made to work for it though and South should be commended for their efforts.
Beyond 90 spoke to Warriors coach Alastair Russell after the match.
“I was very happy with the first half and I was very unhappy with the second,” Russell said.
“I’m looking forward to watching that back on replay because I’m not really sure what went wrong. Full credit to South for coming back but we were in cruise control in the first half. We should have gone into the second half a few more up.”
Olympia’s Madi Chambers made her comeback from injury, coming off the bench. Chambers replaced Davies, who went down with what appears to be a hamstring injury, and may not be 100% yet but she looked very sharp and dangerous when she had possession.
“Losing Bonnie upset our balance a little bit,” Russell said. “We worked very hard in that first half and we seemed to drop our intensity off.
“The combinations for passing just didn’t come off today but that happens. At the end of the day we got 3 points and we are very happy.”
South coach Craig Westwood also gave his thoughts after the match.
“I’m very happy with the players,” Westwood said.
“Going into the match we gave ourselves a chance and we want to win every game we can this year. We have got a squad that can do that for us. We have developed some young players but it is going to take some time and rebuilding. We want to give our youth those opportunities in big games.
“We have got some players that can really press defensively. I thought we were a bit stiff not to get something out of today.”
Other Result
Clarence Zebras 8 (28′ Caitlin Stalker, 32′ 72′ 87’ Zoe Nichols, 49′ 68′ Louisa Marmion, 63′ 75′ Stacie Burdack) v UTAS Soccer Club 0 at Wentworth Park
Click here for Round 2 Fixtures.
Ladder
| Clarence Zebras | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +8 | 3 |
| Kingborough Lions United FC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 3 |
| Olympia FC Warriors | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| South Hobart FC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Ulverstone SC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 |
| UTAS Soccer Club | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -8 | 0 |
