Tasmania’s Women’s Super League continued for round two – and what a weekend it was! Beyond 90 looks back at a super weekend of football on the Apple Isle.
Match of the Round: Kingborough Lions United FC v Olympia FC Warriors
Kingborough Lions United 0 Olympia Warriors 6 (Bonnie Davies 6′ 90’+1 Leah Gubb 15′ Mia Cane 69′ Innocent Michael 84′ Olivia Bomford 88′) at Lightwood Park
At the beginning of the season, Clarence Zebras co-captains Danielle Kannegiesser and Zara Dixon said that Kingborough could be the team to beat this year.
Looking back to last weekend the Lions had the more convincing win, grabbing a 3-1 away victory at Ulverstone, while Olympia really had to fight to hold onto the three points when South Hobart team really pushing them to lockdown their defence.
Most keen observers would have thought even with these two teams’ spots on the table – second against third – this match was always going to be a classic.
In the early minutes, Kingborough’s keeper Erika Mackintosh made an error when she received a defensive pass into the box, and Olympia’s Bonnie Davies was there to take possession on a tight angle and finish hard into an open net.
The Lions needed to roar back, and fast; Laura Davis nearly made the scores equal but Jenna Farrow was able to make a great save on the fly.
After some nice one-two play, Olympia’s Leah Gubb sent in a long shot which lobbed over Mackintosh, much to the surprise of Gubb and her team mates!
The Warriors took a tidy 2-0 lead into half time, but as we had already seen this weekend, a marginal lead can mean nothing if you don’t lock down the defence.
Just under 25 minutes into the second half Mia Cane erased those doubts, with the former Lions player running onto a great looping ball from Innocent Michael, getting one-on-one with the keeper, and finishing with a lob into the right corner.
Michael got onto the scoreboard late on when she got onto a tight angle and picked out the left corner beautifully.
Olivia Bomford scored her first goal since retuning to Tasmania in the 88th minute, finding herself alone in the box and easing her shot into the back of the net.
Davies completed her brace in second half stoppage time, receiving a great ball from the left wing and scoring easily.
Speaking after the match, goalscorer Davies said she was impressed by the effort her team put in on the day.
“Everyone stood out at some stage in the game,” Davies said.
“That’s what a team sport is, especially if we want to be successful this year. We lost our shape a lot last week in the second half and the injuries of some of our senior players may have caused that a bit.”
“If we played the way we played today I am extremely confident we will win comfortably.”
The Warriors’ really made a statement – a 6-0 win! We didn’t see the classic the neutral fan hoped for, but we saw a lot of classy football from the Eastern Shore team.
Ulverstone SC v University of Tasmania SC
Ulverstone 2 (Amy Bissett 72′ Eli Cropp 81′ pen) UTAS 2 (Sophie Young 2′ 62′) at Ulverstone Showgrounds.
With Ulverstone and UTAS not having faced each other since the 2018 season, few would have been able to predict the outcome of
University’s Sophie Young scored the first goal after only two minutes, Ulverstone keeper Georgia Anderson unable to get a hand on the shot, making it 1-0 to the away side.
The game soon changed however when Ulverstone were given a penalty kick at the 24-minute mark.
Ulverstone’s Mikalha George was the lucky one to step up to the spot, but Uni keeper Rhiannon Steele stood tall when needed and palmed away her shot.
Young bagged Uni’s second after getting on a long ball over the defence and half a pitch run. Young was one on one and calmly finished.
Leading 2-0 with little under half an hour to go, it looked like the Students were heading home with all three points.
Ulverstone’s Amy Bissett began the comeback for the home side in the 72nd minute, and suddenly we had a game!
With under 10 minutes to play, these was added drama with a second penalty being awarded, this time to Ulverstone.
Eli Cropp stepped up to calmly place her shot into the net, and Ulverstone were back level!
Full time sounded and Ulv’ had clawed their way back from two goals down to grab a hard-earned point.
Ulverstone goalkeeper Georgia Anderson said after the match that she was amazed by both teams’ performance.
“I thought both teams did a great job,” she said.
“Personally I though Uni had us all over when we were 2-0 down but in the final minutes of the game we came back hard. Disappointed not to get the win but will take the point after that comeback margin.”
South Hobart FC v Clarence Zebras FC
South Hobart 0 Clarence Zebras 4 (Louisa Marmion 19′ Zoe Nichols 29′ Bronte Gado 65′ Isabella Ferrier 90′) at Darcy Street
Before kickoff, some midweek transfer news saw former South Melbourne Aimee Medwin on the move across the Strait to South Hobart.
South Hobart announced Wednesday night that Medwin had signed on for 2020. This is a huge pick up for South: Medwin is arguably the best player Tasmania has produced, and with the former Young Matilda now at their disposal, South may have found the missing piece for their team.
Speaking to Beyond 90 after the move, Medwin said that the delay in Victoria’s seasons restarting had her looking elsewhere for game time.
“With the circumstances of this year and the NPLW Victoria being postponed for the season, and college leagues uncertain, I chose to come to South Hobart because the environment was welcoming,” she said.
“Instead of being looked at as a female, I was treated like a footballer. I was given access to a high quality professional training environment with the NPL men, which has been great.”
“[NPL mens Coach] Ken Morton, [club president] Victoria Morton, and the whole club have been very welcoming. I’m most looking forward to consistently training in a fast-paced scenario, and getting to play in my home state again.”
Unfortunately Medwin didn’t have quite the happy homecoming back in the state she would have wished for, coming off the bench as her side went down by a big margin.
Despite the scoreline, South’s coach Craig Westwood was happy with his team’s efforts.
“Clarence are extremely strong in the last line,” he said.
“Zara Dixon, Selina Steventon, and Louisa Marmion are very difficult to break down.
“Overall i’m happy with the teams performance today, and thrilled with how our first-year players have adapted to senior football.”
Check out this ripping volley goal Football TAS cameras were able to capture from Marmion.
Zebras’ co-captain Danielle Kannegiesser said after the match that despite the result, her side knows they have work to do.
“I think we played well in patches,” Kannegiesser said.
“We still have a lot to work on as a unit regarding switching the play and moving into the front third, … but we are happy with the result, incredible goals out there today!”
“Special mention to ex-South Hobart girls Izzy Ferrier and Bronte Gadon both bagging a goal each today.”
Tasmania Women’s Super League table
Clarence Zebras 6 (+12)
Olympia Warriors 6 (+7)
Kingborough 3 (-4)
Ulverstone 1 (-2)
University of Tasmania 1 (-8)
South Hobart 0 (-5)
WSL Round 3 Fixture: Olympia Warriors vs Ulverstone at Warrior Park, University vs South Hobart at Olinda Grove, Clarence Zebras v Kingborough at Wentworth Park.
