Ben Gilby provides a full report from the game of the week plus all the details from the other matches in Western Australia’s NPL Women’s competition (17/4/23).
Above: Ella Lamonte (left) and Jaime Duncanson embrace after a Perth SC goal against Murdoch University Melville on Saturday. The pair contributed three of their side’s six goals in the match. Photo: Fotoenzo.
Game of the week:
Balcatta Etna 1-1 Fremantle City
It was honours even at Grindleford Reserve on Sunday afternoon in a battle between two teams aiming to push towards the top four in the embryonic NPLW WA ladder.
Both sides went into the game with a win over Curtin University this season with Balcatta having played a game less after their Easter weekend match against Subiaco was postponed.
The home side welcomed the D’Opera sisters Tahlia and Monique back into the starting line-up after they missed the club’s last outing in Round Two, with Freo missing captain Mikayla Lyons.
It was the visitors who had the best of the opening 45. Their former Perth SC defender Maya Spatafore was influential in the early exchanges pushing forward along the right with some jinking runs with the hosts patiently probing.
Fremantle City conjured the first opportunity with 23 minutes on the clock as Jamie-Lee Gale played a ball in from the right for Olivia Trueman’s volley to rebound into the path of Kayla McCulloch whose effort deflected out for a corner.
Shortly afterwards, Freo created once more when Laura Waltman beat Janelle St. Pierre on the right and her cross was met by Gale running in, but the former Perth Glory player’s effort went over the bar.
The visitors were on top now and Janice Kiama played a one-two with Trueman before blasting a shot that Gabby Dal Busco repelled brilliantly in the Balcatta goal. Waltman also saw an effort go just wide of the left-hand post during this period.
Siobhan Longmore was full of running and always looking to play dangerous balls. Four minutes before the break, her high ball from the left was volleyed across goal again from the back post by Trueman for Waltman to hit goalwards, but Elizabeth Doust blocked on the line and Dal Busco gathered.
Balcatta worked hard to stem the tide after the break, looking to slow the game down and maintain possession.
It worked, as on the hour mark, Monique Prinsloo played an excellent probing pass through from midfield to Tia Stonehill who was on the edge of the box to the left. The hot shot, back from injury, slammed a strike into the opposite side of the net to put the hosts ahead.
Fremantle hit back positively and pushed for an equaliser. Balcatta were generally well organised, but with just under 15 minutes to go, the visitors levelled. A long ball from Waltman in the middle of the park picked out Gale on the left. She in turn lofted a cross for Trueman who was in space in the middle of the box to nod home from close range.
Whilst Freo had the momentum, both sides created half chances to steal the points. First, with eight minutes remaining, Stonehill saw an effort dribble wide of the right-hand post from a free-kick, and then for Fremantle, McCulloch delivered a pass for Trueman on the right, but the onrushing Hawkins couldn’t reach the cross.
The final opportunity went Balcatta’s way as Kimberley McCartney lifted a shot goalwards from outside of the box, but Dayle Schroeder saved in the Freo goal.
Both sides will feel this was a game they could have won. Fremantle had more chances, particularly in the first half, and as more players come back into their squad as the season goes on, they will be aiming to push into the top four.
Balcatta are a squad with potential. Once they hit their straps, they could cause headaches to their rivals in the NPLW WA.
Teams: BALCATTA ETNA: Dal Busco, Davis, Doust, St. Pierre, T. D’Opera, Nossent, Continibali, M. D’Opera, Godding, McCartney, Stonehill. Substitutes: Bulgaru, Curzon, Roach, Bricklebank, Dressler.
Scorer: Stonehill 60′.
FREMANTLE CITY: Schroeder, Longmore, Leek, Adams, Spatafore, Waltman, McCulloch, Boorman, Gale, Kiama, Trueman. Substitutes used: Osborne, Nolan, Poad, Lush, Smith-Taylor, Hawkins.
Scorer: Trueman 76′.
Weekly Wrap:
Curtin University 0-7 Perth RedStar
Round Four got underway on Friday night as defending champions Perth RedStar gained victory at struggling Curtin University.
Carlos Vega Mena’s side went ahead after nine minutes when a corner from the right was sidefooted home at the back post by Quyen Doan. Less than 60 seconds later, they doubled their advantage as Doan’s high ball into the box was missed by Curtin keeper Hanna Stoney, allowing Jay Coleman to tap home.
Doan’s red-hot form continued as she supplied goal number three with 22 minutes played as her low ball from the right was met by Renee Leota in the box. Within 120 seconds, it was 4-0 as a free-kick on the left of the area was laid across for Sarah Carroll to thump home. There was still time for another goal just before the break as Bronwyn Studman’s high ball from the left looped straight over Stoney and into the net.
There were two further goals in the second half for the visitors. With just over 15 minutes remaining, Leota grabbed her second of the night when she turned in a low ball from the left. In stoppage time at the end of the 90 minutes, Carroll powerfully dispatched a penalty into the net for her second of the night.
Perth SC 6-0 Murdoch University Melville
Perth SC remain top of the table as they defeated Murdoch University Melville in the late Saturday afternoon match at Dorrien Gardens.
The Azzurri hit their six goals with a rapid-fire burst in both halves. Peter Rakic’s side took the lead just before the half-hour mark thanks to Monique Godding who turned the ball home after Faye Phillips’ shot had come back off the bar. Just over two minutes later, Ella Lincoln doubled their advantage with a sensational individual goal. Winning possession in the centre of the pitch, Lincoln drove forward past the attention of two would-be tacklers and slid home a great finish across Stacey Cavill in the MUM FC goal.
Four goals in just under a quarter of an hour in the second half ensured that the home side maintained their excellent start to the season. Six minutes in, Phillips was played in on the right-hand side just outside the box, took a touch, and ran on before finishing into the far corner.
Less than two minutes later, any faint hopes that Murdoch University Melville may have had were snuffed out as a low ball from the right evaded the visitors’ defence and Jaime Duncanson was in acres of space at the far post to slot home. Duncanson grabbed her second on 66 minutes as she met a bouncing cross from the right with a deadly first-time finish.
The final goal came as the result of a superb move. Ella La Monte laid the ball out to Duncanson on the left wing and went on a run forward which was instantly picked out with a centimetre-perfect return pass into La Monte’s path. After one touch to take the ball further forward, La Monte guided a right-foot shot into the net.
The Azzurri are clear at the top as the competition takes a week’s break for the State Cup. If that is not enough to please them, the fact that Rebecca Bennett has yet to concede a goal in the NPLW WA this season underlines just what a tough side to beat Perth SC are this year.
Subiaco 3-5 Hyundai NTC
Subiaco’s superb attempt at a comeback from 4-0 down was finally held off by the NTC at Rosalie Park in the final game of the round.
The talented teenagers looked to be coasting, but with three minutes to play, Greg Farrell’s side had pulled it back to 4-3 only to fall at the death when Louise Tana confirmed the visitors’ win with a fifth goal.
Hyundai NTC took the game by the scruff of the next with two goals in as many minutes before the break. First, Georgia Cassidy scored from the penalty spot with 37 on the clock, and then a trademark breakthrough by Tanika Lala saw the striker’s effort blocked by Ashleigh Riddle in the Subiaco goal only for the ball to run into the path of Klaudia Hoolis on the right of the box to direct the ball into the net.
Three minutes after the break, the teenagers extended their lead to 3-0. A clearance at the back was snaffled up by the NTC and played out to Mia Britton on the left who advanced goalwards before squeezing a shot in at the near post.
A four-goal advantage was built on 56 minutes as Cassidy gained possession and motored up the right wing and lifted a cross in which was chested by Lala and met by Britton to sweep home.
However, the match was far from over as Subiaco mounted a superb comeback. They got a goal back three minutes later as Marianna Tabain pounced on a poor clearance to score. With 15 remaining they got a second back when excellent work from Siena Crevacore saw her pass reach Tabain on the edge of the box. The former Perth Glory legend squared a pass for Rachel Larsen to lift a superb finish over Bailey and in.
The drama intensified with less than three minutes remaining as Tabain hit a shot from the edge of the box that was parried by Bailey and Frankie Murray steered the ball home.
However, Subi’s dreams of completing the comeback were shattered in stoppage time as Britton ran up the right and hit a shot that came off of Riddle in the home goal and fell for Louise Tana to tap home the goal that sealed the NTC’s win.
The NPLW WA takes a break this coming weekend as State Cup action takes centre stage with the State League clubs battling against their NPLW counterparts.
State Cup 1st Round Draw: Port Kennedy v Perth RedStar, Armadale v Hamersley United, Hyundai NTC v UWA Nedlands, Curtin University v Subiaco (NPLW), Murdoch University Melville v Subiaco AFC, Perth SC v Mandurah City, Fremantle City v Sorrento, Perth AFC v Balcatta Etna.
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