by Ben Gilby (29/6/25)
Above: Jess Flannery (pink shirt), who scored twice and provided an assist for Perth SC, bursts between the Perth RedStar defence yesterday. Photo: Rob Lizzi.
Midweek Catch-up games
Wednesday night saw two games postponed from Round Five take place. First, Fremantle City continued their good recent form with a 3-0 win over Murdoch University Melville. Abbey Green’s rich vein of scoring this month continued when she put Freo ahead after 70 minutes. Sophie Meaden doubled their lead with seven minutes remaining before Mikayla Lyons completed the scoring in stoppage time.
Balcatta Etna extended their NPLW WA winning run to six after dispatching Subiaco 5-1 at Home Group Stadium. Abbey Meakins put the home side ahead with 19 minutes played. Less than two minutes into the second half, Jamie-Lee Gale made it 2-0. So-yi Kim gave Subi real hope just after the hour mark when she tapped home from close range to reduce the deficit. However, Balcatta’s response was rapid, hitting three goals in a nine-minute spell. Ella Marwick restored the two-goal buffer before Meakins dispatched a penalty, and Gale put the icing on the cake with a superb solo run with 12 minutes remaining.
Round 13 action
Football West Academy 12-2 UWA-Nedlands
The Football West Academy produced a dominant performance to comfortably see off UWA-Nedlands in the round’s first game on Wednesday night.
They hit the front after four minutes when a low cross from the right found Sam Brady, who turned the ball in from close range.
However, the lead lasted for less than a minute as Chloe Rodrigo levelled, but the teenage side regained their lead on 10 minutes as Theodora Mouithys’ low shot from the edge of the box rolled into the net.
There then followed a game-breaking spell of five goals in just nine minutes, with Xuri Dalton claiming a hat-trick in the spell.
First, Dalton was released by a superb passing move that carved the UWA-Nedlands midfield and defence wide open before she rounded another defender and slid the ball home. She then side-footed home from the centre of the box when another sweeping move played her in with a low cross from the right from Cate McAuliffe.
McAuliffe made it 5-1 when she was in the right place at the right time to turn the ball home after an initial shot from the right was parried by UWA-Nedlands keeper Madison Large. She was at it again on the half-hour mark when found in acres of space from the left to sweep the ball into the net.
Dalton completed her hat-trick two minutes later as Moutithys charged up the left flank and squared the ball into the box for Dalton to dispatch with aplomb in the centre of the box for 7-1 at the interval.
The Academy then hit a four-goal haul in just 14 minutes in the second half. It began just before the hour mark when Nelli Johnson got up highest to nod home a corner from the left.
Sakura Leong got in on the action after being released with a perfectly weighted pass that dissected the visitors’ defence for her to run into and slot home. Two minutes later, McAuliffe grabbed her hat-trick goal when played in after Leong’s burst along the left found her on the edge of the box to fire in a powerful shot that Large could only help into the net for 10-1.
Leong extended the lead yet further with 21 minutes remaining as she once more accelerated along the left and then cut inside, and held off a defender and the on-rushing Large to dispatch the ball in.
Dalton got her fourth of the evening on 78 in superb style when she held off two defenders on the edge of the box with her back to goal, turned and fired home a stunning shot.
Alice Muller got UWA-Nedlands’ second with three minutes remaining, but it was very little comfort for the visitors, who have now conceded 33 goals in their last three games.
Teams: FOOTBALL WEST ACADEMY: Borg, Santos, Williams-Jones, Barlow, Brady, Houlis, Dalton, Dumont, Heys, McAuliffe, Mouithys. Substitutes: McGreadie Cole, Kuzamba, Price, Leong, Johnson, Collinson.
Scorers: Brady 4′, Mouithys 10′, Dalton 23′, 25′, 32′, 78′. McAuliffe 26′, 30′, 65′. Johnson 59′, Leong 63′, 69′.
UWA-NEDLANDS: Large, Dadswell, C. Gaspar, Kinkaid, Preiato, Short, Beese, Rodrigo, Dinsdale, Riches, Reid. Substitutes: E. Gaspar, Visic, Hartley, Muller, Cain, Gibson, Dewar.
Scorers: Rodrigo 5′, Muller 87′.
Perth SC 5-3 Perth RedStar
Perth’s sizzling first-half performance ensured they clinched a hugely important win over defending champions Perth RedStar at Dorrien Gardens yesterday afternoon.
This encounter between two of the NPLW WA’s most successful sides in recent seasons took place around the home side’s annual Pink Day festivities to raise funds and awareness for Breast Cancer Care WA.
The action exploded into action from the very beginning as RedStar broke through, with Quyen Doan seeing a shot coming back off the post after just 10 seconds.
The defending champions were continuing on the front foot in the earliest of exchanges and, with five minutes played, took the lead. Caitlin Doeglas’ corner came in high from the left, the initial Azzurri clearing header fell for Sarah Carroll on the edge of the box to crash home a volley in some style from a central position.
However, Perth responded with some major offensive power of their own as they hit three goals in a stunning six-minute spell.
Indeed, less than a minute after Carroll’s goal, they were level. Tijan McKenna saw a long-range shot come back off the post, and with visiting keeper Gabby Dal Busco beaten, the rebound fell perfectly for Jess Flannery to side-foot home.
With eight minutes played, some exceptional vision and passing from Hannah Collins saw her thread a perfectly weighted ball through the RedStar box for Daisy McAllister on the left to hit a shot across Dal Busco and into the far corner of the net.
Three minutes later, Flannery played the perfect pass to McAllister, who had made a superb run to the left of the RedStar box, unmarked, to dispatch a low shot into the goal.
It got better still for the hosts with 25 on the clock. RedStar lost possession from a throw-in inside their own half, and Hannah Collins looked up on the right to see Flannery in a large amount of space on the left. Yet another perfectly judged pass found the striker in a position that she was never going to miss from, and Flannery punished the visiting defence to roll the ball home.
In trying to stem the Perth tide, Carla Bennett was excellent for the visitors. The midfielder played some hugely intelligent balls through to her teammates, but RedStar were never able to benefit from Bennett’s vision as the Azzurri defence swept up comfortably.
There was one further half chance before the break when Epril Nossent’s cross from the right was pushed up by Dal Busco. McAllister, coming in at the back post, saw her effort go over the top.
The second half began with RedStar upping the ante, and shortly after Jay Coleman headed narrowly wide from a Sarah Carroll free-kick, they grabbed a lifeline when Leota laid the ball back to Bennett, who spotted Doeglas on her own, and fired across an excellent pass for the attacker to slot home.
Just after the hour mark, the visitors momentarily thought they had reduced the deficit further when Carroll played Doeglas through to sweep the ball into the net, but the assistant referee’s flag went up to rule it out for offside.
Buoyed by this decision, the Azzurri pushed forward again. McAllister was fouled on the edge of the box to the left of centre. Up stepped Kim McCartney to lift the free-kick in, Dal Busco spilled the ball at the feet of Mathers to tap home from close range and restore Perth’s three-goal advantage.
The remaining 20 minutes or so of the game were largely broken up with a succession of yellow cards, but the visitors did force two further opportunities.
First, Leota fed Doeglas, who saw a shot come crashing back off the bar, and then in stoppage time, Ridley was denied first by an excellent stop by Dayle Schroeder, and from the rebound Ridley saw an effort cleared off the line by Georgia Cassidy before referee David Avison pointed to the spot for a foul on Laura Continibali. Carroll dispatched the penalty.
This was an extremely impressive performance and victory by the Azzurri against the side that were top of the ladder going into the game. Perth SC now travel to the Sam Kerr Football Centre next weekend to face the Football West Academy in an intriguing first against second clash.
For more information about Breast Cancer WA, or to donate, visit https://www.breastcancer.org.au/
Teams: PERTH SC: Schroeder, Nossent, McCartney, McKenna, Longmore, McAllister, Cassidy, Collins, Lincoln, Flannery, Mathers. Substitutes: Ottobrino, Ingrey, Insch, Tana, Archibald, Rennie.
Scorers: Flannery 6’, 25’. McAllister 8’, 11’. Mathers 67’.
PERTH REDSTAR: Dal Busco, Woolley, Dunn, Monteiro, Doan, Bennett, Coleman, Carroll, Leota, Doeglas, Ridley. Substitutes: Bellanca, Continibali, Lornie, Mogridge, Finnegan, Devitt.
Scorer: Carroll 5’, (pen) 90+3. Doeglas 57’.
Referee: David Avison.
Balcatta Etna 2-1 Subiaco
Balcatta won their seventh league game in a row, but they were pushed by a hard-working Subiaco side at Home Group Stadium this afternoon.
The hosts hit the front with 18 minutes on the clock thanks to an Olimpico from the left-hand side by Abbey Meakins – her eighth goal this month alone.
Balcatta doubled their lead in the 68th minute with a move that began with goalkeeper Rebecca Bennett’s clearance from a Subi corner. Jamie-Lee Gale combined with Meakins before Frankie Murray’s cross from the left was met with a sliding volley at the near post by Gale, who collided with keeper Monique Todd as she did so. After a short consultation between referee and assistant, the goal was awarded.
Subi pushed to get back into the game, and after Greta Bailey’s burst through was ended by the Balcatta defence, Izzy Folletta was shown a second yellow card for what appeared to be dissent.
The visitors got a goal back three minutes before the end when Marianna Tabain released Tayna Campos, who swept home a first-time low shot.
Balcatta will now go into next Sunday’s trip to Perth RedStar with real confidence. In a rich vein of form, they will be determined to put right the 5-0 scoreline from their previous encounter with the defending champions this season.
Teams: BALCATTA ETNA: Bennett, van Heurck, Folletta, Davis, Jarvis, Murray, Marwick, Meakins, Spadano, Gale, Duncanson. Substitutes: Cook, Hargreaves, Comito, M. D’Opera, Phillips, Britton.
Scorers: Meakins 18′, Gale 69′.
SUBIACO: Todd, Steele, Burdett, Bailey, Hope, Papalia, McCulloch, Campos, Zampogna, Kim, Tabain. Substitutes: Hughes, Rudd, Robinson, Jahn, Tyne.
Scorers: Campos 87′.
Fremantle City 5-0 Murdoch University Melville
Fremantle City extended their winning run to three league and cup games after this success over Murdoch University Melville (MUM FC) at Hilton Park today.
Freo took the lead eight minutes before the break in some style as an eight-pass move that swept from defence to offence ended with Sophie Meaden finding Abbey Green in the box for the former Perth Glory player to find the net from close range.
The same pair were at it again just before the hour mark as Green darted between two players to advance deep into the MUM FC half and find Meaden, whose shot was repelled by Jemma Skinner, and Green was on the rebound to turn it in for her and Freo’s second.
The home side wrapped up the points with a spell of three goals in seven minutes either side of the 80-minute mark. Meaden made it 3-0 when she was played through by an incisive pass from Janice Kiama to run in unopposed and dispatch the ball into the net.
Nine minutes from the end, Green found Leyna Wood, who threaded a sensational long low pass which completely took the visiting defence out of the equation, allowing Meaden to hit her second.
Green completed her hat-trick shortly afterwards as Meaden threaded a pass through to her to run onto and beat Skinner in the one-on-one to turn the ball home.
Teams: FREMANTLE CITY: Phillips, Leek, Siah, Osborne, Spencer, Kiama, Meaden, Reynolds, Green, Yeo, Lyons. Substitutes: Adams, Wood.
Scorers: Green 37′, 57′, 84′. Meaden 77′, 81′.
MURDOCH UNIVERSITY MELVILLE: Skinner, Ellis, Ascenzo-Cabello, Denona, Symons, Jorquera, Saraceni, Patience, Glanfield, Baiamonte, Baldin. Substitutes: Malata, Mohan, Hotchin, Cleminson, Bui.
Ladder
Football West Academy P 13 Pts 30 GD + 27
Perth SC P 12 Pts 29 GD + 27
Perth RedStar P 13 Pts 28 GD +34
Balcatta Etna P 12 Pts 28 GD + 22
Fremantle City P 13 Pts 18 GD + 14
Subiaco P 13 Pts 10 GD – 15
UWA-Nedlands P 13 Pts 6 GD -50
Murdoch University Melville P 13 Pts 0 GD -59
Fixtures
SUNDAY: Football West Academy v Perth SC, Murdoch University Melville v UWA-Nedlands, Perth RedStar v Balcatta Etna, Subiaco v Fremantle City.
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