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 (3/7/23).
Above: Hyundai NTC celebrate a goal earlier on this season. Tanika Lala (right) added to her tally yesterday in their superb win over Fremantle City, ending the port city side’s five match winning run. Photo: Fotoenzo
Main report of the week
Hyundai NTC 5-3 Fremantle City
Fremantle City’s hopes of finishing top of the NPLW WA this season took a hit yesterday as they went down 5-3 at E&D Litis Stadium to an NTC side who re-entered the top four as a consequence of this win.
This defeat, coinciding with leaders Perth RedStar’s 7-0 win over Subiaco means that City are now seven points behind in second place.
Whilst Freo tried hard to work their way back into the match on several occasions, they could never quite fire at full throttle, and the attacking threat posed by the home side made them pay. Both teams made notable changes in goal. Lilly Bailey returned for NTC after missing five game with a knee injury, and former Murdoch University Melville custodian Danelle Cornish came in for Dayle Schroeder between the sticks for Freo.
It was the talented teenagers who had the better of the opening half. With five minutes on the clock, Nelli Johnson found Tanika Lala outside her on the right who played a high cross in that Grace Johnston couldn’t quite reach. Lala was involved shortly afterwards when a ball was pulled back but Cornish saved.
Laura Waltman has been one of the players of the season in the NPLW WA in 2023, and she was in the thick of the action near the quarter-hour mark. Grace Cassidy looked to have handled the Freo star initially, but the ball returned to Waltman who hit a lofted shot that Bailey caught.
Back came the hosts as Lala tried to dance her way through the centre of the park before being brought down around 20 yards from goal. Cassidy stepped up for the free-kick, but her low effort dribbled wide of the left-hand post.
Then – a golden opportunity. Mia Britton showed great skill to find Lala who broke through in idiosyncratic style to advance into the box for a one-on-one with Cornish. It was a move that regular NPLW WA watchers have seen countless times over the last two seasons, but on this occasion, the attacker from the Goldfields saw her shot come rocketing back off the post rather than rippling the net.
Fremantle were not seen as much from an attacking perspective as they had been over the course of their five-match winning streak going into this game, the NTC were working hard to deny the visitors space. Just after the half-hour mark, Ben Anderton’s youngsters hit the front. Lala broke down the right and squared from the byline for Young Matilda Ischia Brooking to dispatch from close range.
However, the NTC’s lead lasted for just three minutes. Perth Glory captain Tash Rigby found Olivia Trueman in the box, and the former NTC player pulled a pass back to Kayla McCulloch on the edge of the box to lash home a shot that came off the underside of the crossbar.
Yet, the hosts responded brilliantly. Just before the interval, Britton advanced along the right again and found Johnson in the center of the box, but the shot went narrowly wide. They had better luck in stoppage time. Hannah Collins found Brooking who played a centimetre perfect through ball to Lala. The attacker timed her run perfectly to beat the offside trap. Her initial shot was saved by Cornish’s outstretched boot, but the rebound fell for Lala who make no mistake at the second attempt.
Whilst the second half opened with a bang as Maya Spatafore supplied a pass for Jamie-Lee Gale to advance and hit a shot that cannoned back off of the bar, the action then petered out. However, the final 25 minutes, which included a spell of four goals in nine minutes more than made up for it. The drama began with 67 minutes on the clock as substitute Violet Longmore saw a shot come off the back of a Freo defender and fall perfectly for Grace Johnson to fire home from the edge of the box.
The gap was reduced to a single goal within 10 minutes as NTC keeper Bailey fell as she cleared to Mischa Anderson, who in turn was muscled out of possession on the left-hand edge of the box by Rigby. She found Trueman who was able to lay off to Mikayla Lyons to fire home.
NTC responded well and with Brooking influential once more, restored their two-goal advantage within five minutes. The Young Matilda supplied Longmore on the left who played in a superb pacey cross for Louise Tana to chest over the line.
The see-saw nature of this spell of play continued with the port city side hitting back less than 120 seconds later. This time, Waltman gathered possession in the centre of the field and found Gale on the right. The former Perth Glory player lifted a high cross towards the back post where Lyons was waiting to volley home from an acute angle to bring it back to 4-3.
NTC were not finished though, and sealed the points with a moment of outstanding skill from Georgia Cassidy, who could light up the A-League Women with Perth Glory next season. Lala was fouled by Annabelle Leek right of centre, just over 25 yards from goal. Cassidy grabbed the ball, put it down, and hit one of her trademark screamer set-pieces that flew into the far corner of the net.
This was a vital win in the context of NTC’s season as they re-enter the top four ahead of missing the next two rounds of NPLW WA action due to competing in the NTC Challenge. Any hope that Fremantle City had of ending winning the title this season are now surely over with this defeat – unless they can lower Perth RedStar’s colours when they meet in a fortnight’s time.
Teams: HYUNDAI NTC: Bailey, Cuthbert, Anderson, O’Halloran, Collins, Cassidy, Johnston, Brooking, Johnson, Lala, Britton. Substitutes: Collinson, Hoolis, Tana, Phillips, Tanner, Longmore.
Scorers: Brooking 32, Lala 45+1, Johnson 67′, Tana 82, Cassidy 86′.
FREMANTLE CITY: Cornish, Spatafore, Leek, Adams, Boorman, Rigby, McCulloch, Waltman, Gale, Trueman, Kiama. Substitutes: Lyons, Osborne, Poad, C. Gaspar, E. Gaspar.
Scorer: McCulloch 36′. Lyons 77′, 84′.
Weekly Wrap
Curtin University 2-6 Perth SC
Round 13 began on Friday night at Edinburgh Oval as Perth SC scored four goals in a 16-minute spell either side of the half-hour mark to overcome bottom side Curtin University.
However, Curtin deserve credit for battling away, and doubled their goalscoring tally for the season, despite being 4-0 at one stage.
The Azzurri went ahead after 18 minutes when Ella Lincoln was found on the right after an excellent team move. Her cross was nodded home by Jessica Flannery. Shortly before the half-hour mark, a lofted pass through the centre fell perfectly for Lincoln to advance and dispatch comfortably past Curtin keeper Emmanuella Adu-Pipim Boaduo.
A little more than two minutes later, Perth went 3-0 up as a clinical one-two on the edge of the box between Abbey Meakins and Stella Zampogna ended with the latter firing high into the net to the right of centre.
Perth SC re-established their four-goal lead eight minutes into the second half when a catalogue of less-than-perfect defending from the hosts saw them waste at least three chances to clear before Zampogna made them pay by lashing home from close range.With just over a quarter of an hour remaining, Curtin got another goal back as they won turnover ball, allowing Tiana Botha to gather possession outside the box and send a powerful finish high into the net.
The final say went to the visitors deep into second-half stoppage time as Lincoln was found on the edge of the box from the right. She took one touch to turn and get past her defender before dispatching the ball into the net brilliantly to conclude the scoring.
Murdoch University Melville 0-6 Balcatta Etna
The Round 13 action continued late Saturday afternoon as these pair of top-four chasers met at Besteam Stadium in a match that had originally been postponed.
Balcatta had Yash Pratap taking charge as head coach for the first time, with Tim Cash moving back to the post of Head of Female Football. Additionally, they fielded former MUM FC states Tia Stonehill, Baxter Thew, and Sadie Lawrence.
Buoyed by all this, the visitors hit the front just gone the quarter-hour mark. Monique Prinsloo broke through along the right flank and squared for Stonehill to slam home inside the box. They doubled their advantage 14 minutes later as Kim McCartney’s corner from the left was headed into the net by Thew.
The visitors took the game with a firm grip when they added a third within three minutes of the second half kicking off. Murdoch University Melville stumbled over trying to clear allowing Prinsloo to snaffle possession and her shot went in off of Rosie Lehane who attempted to slide the ball away.
Etna ran out clear winners as they hit another three goals, including a spell of two in just four minutes either side of the 70-minute mark. First, Stonehill grabbed her second as she was fed in the centre of the park to run through and clinically fire home. Then, MUM FC goalkeeper Andrea Preiato’s clearance fell to Lauren Continibali who headed out to McCartney on the right to fire a shot from almost 25 yards that bounced in front of Preiato and flew on into the net.
Stonehill completed her hattrick in the dying moments of regular time as she pounced on loose play in defence from the hosts to gain possession and slide the ball into an empty net. This result remains was important to Balcatta who have added fuel to their hopes of top-four qualification at the end of the season.
Perth RedStar 7-0 Subiaco
League leaders Perth RedStar took advantage of Fremantle City’s defeat to open up a seven-point lead at the summit after a comprehensive victory over Subiaco at RedStar Arena on Sunday.
It took nine minutes for Carlos Vega Mena’s side to hit the front as Chiori Ikeda won possession and laid off for Renee Leota to run through and clinically dispatch the ball into the net.
The game was ultimately won with a spell of three goals in just five minutes after the half-hour mark. It was 2-0 when Renee Leota found Olivia Wood on the left flank. Wood advanced to the byline and put in a low cross for Ikeda to roll home. Five minutes later, Reina Kagami added to her collection for the season with a stunning turn and curled shot from outside the box for 3-0. Wood was involved again for the fourth as she gathered possession and found Kagami unmarked at the left-hand side of the box to add her second of the game.
Just after the hour mark, Kagami completed her hat-trick in style with an absolute rocket of shot from 25 yards after Jay Coleman played an inside pass to the Japanese attacker. Ten minutes later, amidst struggles trying to clear their lines, an attempted clearance from Subiaco cannoned into the net off of Leota for 6-0. The scoring was completed with 12 minutes to go as another clearance from the Subi defence went to a red shirt, and the move ended with Abbey Woolley lashing home another long-range effort.
Perth RedStar know that if they can win their next match, against second-placed Fremantle City in a fortnight, then a second successive NPLW WA championship is as good as secure.
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