Jean-Pierre Thiesset updates us on France’s international schedule and provides some important news from the Olympique Lyonnais club.
After the withdrawal of Iceland team following that of Norway last week and the impossibility to find two other nations to compete with, the planned France tournament has been cancelled. The tournament will be replaced by two friendly games against Switzerland the only remaining team. The games will take place at Metz on February 17, 2021 and February 20, 2021.
On the Olympique Lyonnais side, there has been the renewal of a contract. Amandine Henry has signed a two year extension and should stay with Lyon up to June 2023.
Above: From left to right: Jean-Luc Vasseur (coach), Amandine Henry and Jean-Michel Aulas (President). Photo: @Damien LG from OL website.
After the extending the deals of Sarah Bouhaddi and Dzsenifer Marozsan this summer of an up to June 2023 and those of Ada Hegerberg and Griedge Mbock up to June 2024 recently, Lyon continue to secure its main players while preparing the future with new high-level young players like Damaris Egurrola (up to June 2023) and Catarina Macario (up to June 2024) who signed last month.
Ben Gilby caught up with Chorley Women’s Lisa Topping, who Impetus are proud to sponsor, for our second monthly chat. Here, we catch up with what Lisa has been up to since the New Year Lockdown.
Lisa began by explaining how she’s been doing and keeping active in the continuing difficult times: “I’m doing well despite the circumstances we are still facing. I have a really close family who work really hard to stay in touch virtually despite lockdowns and social distancing so I have family quizzes and such to look forward to. I’m also able to keep busy with little house projects and walking the dogs.”
Above: Lisa in action for Chorley previously. Photovia: Lisa Topping
In terms of how Chorley’s team are keeping in touch, it seems like there’s been plenty of creative activities going on: “We have weekly fitness sessions over Zoom led by one of our senior players, Betti Worth, who is fantastic at pulling together fun and engaging, football specific workouts. She is a really great fitness coach who has massively stepped up during this time to support the team. We also have a team WhatsApp group so there is always banter in there as well as little weekly challenges, such as keep-ups or a football skill. We also have club meetings where we all check in and keep up to date with where we need to be. Ben Gooden and the rest of the management staff are really great at keeping everyone connected.”
In terms of how Lisa is passing her time personally, “Apart from working, I’m passing my time during lockdown by doing plenty of dog walking, watching Netflix, and picking up some house DIY projects. I do like to watch football on TV. I regularly link up the FA Player onto the TV from my laptop or phone and binge back-to-back games. I enjoy watching sport in general – I grew up with it constantly being on the TV at the weekend where my Dad would point out tactical play in the football games. We also commonly watched tennis tournaments, F1 racing, rugby and horse racing. I’ve never really developed allegiance for a football team – I just enjoy watching a good game. I particularly enjoy watching big name games or rivalry clashes such as Liverpool v Everton or Manchester United v Manchester City.”
“On a more active note, now that we have slightly longer, lighter days I’m looking forward to getting back on my road bike on top of the running I currently do to try and stay fit in preparation for the season. I’ve joined Strava Clubs and challenges to keep motivated and maintain my running whilst training is on pause and then I grab my boots and a ball and head to the local park on my own on the weekend.”
Of course, all the home fitness work cannot make up for the loss of game playing sharpness. This is something that Lisa is already keeping in mind: “Once football is back and up and running, one of my short-term targets is to get back to game speed as quickly possible. Despite all the running and fitness during this time, the sharpness and mental focus will be something that needs to be quickly recovered.”
Whether or not there will be any football to be played before the summer is still in question. The Football Association recently circulated a survey to clubs with regards on how best to end the season – pausing until it is safe to play again or end the season now and rank clubs by a points-per-game basis. In Lisa’s opinion, “the FA are in a really tough position on this. Whichever decision they make, someone isn’t going to agree with it. I feel it’s a big weigh up of maintaining safety of those involved, taking into account club finances and being realistic with expectations. There are pros and cons with each approach that has been suggested and I’m glad it isn’t me having to make the decision!
Above: Lisa Topping (far right back row with thumb up) with a group of Euxton Girls players. Photo via: Michael Taylor.
“Euxton Girls is a fantastic local club who were integral in my football career. They really grew my love for the game and gave me a place to play football with other girls. Before that I only had options to play in the boy’s teams or train alone with my Dad. I remember feeling so happy when I got to train and play in an environment with other girls who had a love for the game and compete in a girls’ league. It was at that point that I felt I fitted in for being a girl who liked football.”
“We had a fantastic team including Holly Bradshaw, who is now the British Record Holder for the Pole Vault, Danielle Gibbons, who went on to be a goalkeeper for Liverpool FC and of course Nicola Barker who is still central in the Euxton Girls set up and develops young players coming through. The coaching staff there were, and still are, passionate, committed and put player development first. For example, I remember loving sessions delivered by Diane Moss when I was only fourteen and she is still there now driving the club forward.”
At the present time, myself and club captain, Laura Walker, would go and attend some of the Wildcat Sessions hosted by Euxton Girls and Diane on a Friday evening. Laura is a brilliant role model and really supports the local community whilst representing Chorley Women FC. When my time playing is up, I’d love to give back more to the club and get further involved in the coaching side with them.”
We look forward to catching up with Lisa again in March.
Jean-Pierre Thiesset rounds up all the news from the women’s game in France. This week he informs us what went on in the fourteenth week of action in D1 Arkema, and highlights the latest squad selection for the French national team.
Paris St. Germain won 5-0 away from home at Fleury. PSG are still league leaders, one point ahead of Lyon. Goals from Sandy Baltimore (24, 62), Marie-Antoinette Katoto (61), Kadidiatou Diani (69 penalty) and Irene Paredes (90+1). It was an easy game for PSG, who played seriously and do not let any chance go to Fleury.
Olympique Lyonnais won at home 2-1 against Montpellier. Goals for Lyon from Amandine Henry (4) and Elisa De Almeida (40, own goal following a shot by Sakina Karchaoui); Montpellier’s goal came from Clarisse Le Bihan (6). Once again it was a difficult game for Lyon, which was not able to assert its game on the opposition. Even if Wendie Renard, their captain, was suspended due to three yellow cards, that does not explain everything. We saw also the debut of Catarina Macario who produced an encouraging debut but still needs to improve.
Above: Catarina Macario made her debut for Olympique Lyonnais. Photo: Damien LG.
Soyaux won away from home at Issy 1-0 with a goal from Laura Bourgoin (22). After 10 games without a victory, this is very good result for Soyaux against one of their direct rivals for staying in D1 next year. Soyaux and Issy were tied at 7 points with 1 game in hand for Issy; now Issy still have 1 game in hand but Soyaux are 3 points ahead of them and furthermore with a better goal average.
Guingamp by winning away from home against Le Havre 1–0, continues to slowly secure its place in the middle of the table. The only goal of the game was scored for Guingamp by Faustine Robert (76). Le Havre, who are still not able to win even at home, stay bottom of the table.
Two games were postponed due to Covid19: Dijon – Bordeaux and Reims – Paris FC.
The D1 ARKEMA table now looks like this:
P
W
D
L
F
A
Pts
GD
Paris St. Germain
14
13
1
0
57
2
40
+ 55
Olympique Lyonnais
14
13
0
1
50
5
39
+ 45
Bordeaux
13
8
2
3
32
14
26
+ 18
Montpellier
14
6
2
6
17
22
20
– 5
Guingamp
14
6
1
7
20
23
19
– 3
Fleury
13
5
4
4
11
21
19
– 10
Paris FC
13
5
3
5
21
22
18
– 1
Dijon
12
5
1
6
15
22
16
– 7
Reims
13
3
2
8
17
30
11
– 13
Soyaux
14
3
1
10
10
29
10
– 19
Issy
13
2
1
10
8
54
7
– 46
Le Havre
13
1
2
10
10
24
5
– 14
As a Lyon fan, I start to worry about the future in this season, not only in D1 Arkema championships but also in UEFA Women Champion League. In D1 Arkema, Paris SG won their games pretty easily and have now a goal difference of 55, 10 goals in front of Lyon. If Lyon does not improve their game soon, it will be very difficult for them to win against Paris SG even at home and they will be far from favourites in UWCL.
International News:
Above: Sakina Karchaoui – selected again for France. Photo: @Sakinakarchaoui.
This morning Corinne Diacre gave her list of players for the second Tournoi de France organized to prepare for the next European Championships. This tournament will take place in February from Wednesday 17 to Tuesday 23 at Metz and Sedan in the North East of France. For this first rendezvous of the year, France (3rd at FIFA ranking) will play against 3 other teams: Iceland (16th), Switzerland (19th) and a third team which will replace Norway who cannot be there for Covid19 reasons.
Games schedule:
17.02.2021, 19:00, Metz: To be determined – Switzerland
17.02.2021, 21 :10, Sedan: France – Iceland
20.02.2021, 19:00, Sedan: Iceland – To be determined
20.02.2021, 21 :10, Metz: France- Switzerland
23.02.2021, 19 :00, Sedan: Iceland- Switzerland
23.02.2021, 21:10, Metz: France-To be determined
Three main players are missing in this squad due to injury: Amandine Henry (Lyon), Griedge Mbock (Lyon) and Viviane Asseyi (Bayern Munich). Sarah Bouhaddi is not in this list too. Three players are in the list for the first time: Mylène Chavas (Dijon Goalkeeper), Constance Picaud (Le Havre Goalkeeper) and Ella Palis (Bordeaux Midfielder). We can remark also that two players having very good performances with their teams are not selected either: Kheira Hamraoui (Barcelona Midfielder) and Aurélie Kaci (Real Madrid Midfielder).
Goalkeepers: Mylène Chavas, Solène Durand, Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, Constance Picaud Defenders: Estelle Cascarino, Elisa De Almeida, Sakina Karchaoui, Perle Morroni, Eve Périsset, Wendie Renard, Marion Torrent, Aïssatou Toukara. Midfielders: Charlotte Bilbault, Julie Dufour, Grace Geyoro, Oriane Jean-François, Léa Khelifi, Amel Majri, Ella Palis, Sandie Toletti. Strikers: Sandy Baltimore, Delphine Cascarino, Kadidiatou Diani, Valérie Gauvin, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Eugénie Le Sommer, Clara Matéo.
Sydney FC moved seven points clear at the top of the Westfield W-League after a comprehensive 4-0 win over second placed Canberra United, who were previously unbeaten.
Above: Remy Siemsen, scorer of a brace for Sydney FC sends another effort goalwards against Canberra United. Photo: Kris Goman.
It’s Teresa Polias’ 150th game in the W-league, the first player to do so. Incredible really when you consider how short each season is. It really is an achievement. Another record on the line is the all-time leading goal scorer. Michelle Heyman is currently sitting at 69 goals, one behind Sam Kerr’s all-time record of 70. It looks set to be smashed and, despite being a Sydney fan, I’m hoping it’s today so I can witness it.
This is the top of the table clash. Sydney have been victorious in all their matches so far. Canberra have played five but have won three and drawn two. Still expecting this to be close with both teams in form. Sydney will have the home ground advantage of course at Kogarah Oval.
Both Sydney and Canberra are playing 4-3-3 today and the visitors kick off. The opening exchanges consist of a battle in the mid field with both team’s defence standing strong and keeping back any incursion to the final thirds until a foul gives Sydney a free kick.
Polias takes it and its headed straight back out by Canberra. Heyman gets a ball through the centre but is relieved of it by Charlotte Mclean before she can enter the box.
Canberra string together a few passes. Kendall Fletcher passes to Grace Maher who takes a shot which is headed on and provides the perfect opportunity for Heyman to run onto it in the box. Ally Green is right beside her though and bumps her off the ball so she can’t make a decent connection and it’s gathered by Jada Mathyssen-Whyman. It’s down the other end quickly and Princess Ibini sends a ball across from the left. Mackenzie Hawkesby is not quite quick enough to connect to what would have been a dead cert. Sydney apply a lot of pressure to stay in their attacking third and are rewarded with a number of throw ins. The pressure is building with a couple of runs into the box but no shots on goal yet.
Then a corner is given to Sydney, to be taken by Polias. It lands in front of the goal for a couple of headers before it’s cleared to the left side-line.
Another wave from Sydney sees Remy Siemsen on the right evading two defenders and getting a shot away but Keeley Richards collects it safely. It’s straight back the other end for a solo effort by Nikki Flannery but her shot is under powered and goes straight to Mathyssen-Whyman.
Sydney weave down the right with a number of connected passes and a cross goes into the hand of Fletcher for a free kick near the top of the box on the right. Everyone lines up along the top of the box. Somehow everyone misses the ball in and it floats out to the left chased by Ibini. She darts between defenders to bring it in and passes back from the goal line. It goes past Siemsen and is kicked up by the Canberra defence to Hawkesby’s chest. It bounces off her chest and she volleys it in past two defenders for the first goal. 1-0 Sydney at 16 minutes in. Hawkesby runs off with her tongue out in celebration, chased by her teammates who eventually catch her for a group hug.
Above: Mackenzie Hawkesby connects for her goal which put Sydney FC 1-0 up. Photo: Kris Goman.
After a dominating ten minutes, Canberra get back into the play a bit and there’s a lot more midfield action. The defence is holding strong until Green brings the ball down the left flank and her cross is kneed out uncontrolled by Jessika Nash. The resulting corner sees the ball in and out of the box a few times until a shot by Natalie Tobin is pushed out at with a stretch by Richards for another corner.
The corner is defended well by Canberra and we’re back to a midfield battle. The rest of the half plays out with a couple of build ups by Canberra foiled by Sydney, unrelenting pressure by Sydney including a number of corners but the Canberra defence standing ultimately solid.
There’s one beautiful run down the left by Cortnee Vine from a Green pass but her pass across goal sees no one connect and is out for a goal kick. The Green / Vine connection is formidable. They are both in top form and can cause havoc at will it seems.
The next distribution by Richards is sent directly to Ibini’s thigh and she nearly scores from this mistake.
At half time there’s a substitution and Taylor-Young is off and Satchell is on for Canberra. Canberra come back rejuvenated and get some possession. They look good when they have the ball and I like their passing game. They just can’t seem to breach the Sydney defence though and it’s not long before we find Ibini running into the box and passing to Clare Wheeler for a shot on goal. It’s deflected out and Sydney have their first corner of the second half.
The corner comes across and is headed straight out the other side by Maher for another corner from the opposite post. Next corner is punched up by Richards then headed onto the top of the net by Vine. Shortly after Canberra get a rare corner but the lob is grabbed out of the air by Wyman. Canberra can’t win a trick today.
Above: Cortnee Vine gets above the Canberra United defence. Photo: Kris Goman.
The next Sydney corner is close but eventually cleared. There is some movement around the box and a couple of blocked shots until Ibini gets a clear position at the top of the box. Her shot is deflected by Richards who is on the ground. Siemsen rushes in to kick it and it hits the top of the bar and rebounds straight down and bounces back while Siemsen rushes in and points to the goal line. Paige Satchell is able to take the ball away down the right flank towards goal. Heyman can’t connect with her cross and the Sydney defence recover to keep it out. The replay shows the ball from Siemsen clearly went in with a massive spin that bounced it back out again but the ball clearly crossed the line. The crowd rumbles when the replay is shown. The lack of VAR has cost Sydney a goal there. Siemsen is trying to argue the point with the ref who is not having it. She might regret that decision when she watches the match back later.
Play continues with Canberra on the attack but once again the Sydney defence proves impenetrable until Siemsen can take a run up field. There’s some passing around the top of the box then Canberra takes back control.
Wheeler stops a foray into the box and once again Sydney are on the attack. This time it’s up the right side and the ball ends up with Vine. She brings it into the box, shoots and it just goes under the diving arm of Richards but shaves the left post to go out in a very near miss.
At 64 minutes Siemsen gets the ball about ten metres from the top of the box. She passes right to Hawkesby who flicks it back to Vine who has positioned herself just inside the box. She controls the ball and takes a snap shot that beats the keeper on the right of goal. It hits the back of the net and Sydney are redeemed and it’s 2-0. Cortnee Vine’s confidence is soaring. If she doesn’t make the Matildas squad for the Olympics, I’ll be very surprised and disappointed. I hope boss Tony Gustavsson is watching this match.
Canberra respond to adversity aggression with Flannery bringing the ball into the box and taking a shot that crossed the face of goal unchallenged.
That doesn’t last long and the ball is shortly back up with Sydney and there’s a corner to be taken from the left. It goes to the back post and Siemsen heads it. It’s grabbed and punched back down by Richards and kicked by Laura Hughes. The kick goes straight to Siemsen who pounds it through the tangle of legs and into goal and is finally vindicated with a recognised goal. She’s pretty happy about it as the score increases to 3-0 Sydney at 72 minutes.
In a similar restart, Canberra have another corner after the kick-off. It’s cleared by a Allira Toby volley. Another ball towards the Canberra goal is cut off before Heyman can get to it. The Canberra icon has had very little involvement so far in this match and is struggling to make an impact.
Above: Michelle Heyman – a tough day at the office for Canberra United’s icon. Photo: Kris Goman.
At 75 minutes, Sydney get a corner on the right. It comes to the back post and Siemsen heads it in for her second of the match and fourth of the season. Sydney go up 4-0.
It’s looking embarrassing now and Sydney are showing their class with Canberra unable to match it. Given this is a top of the table clash, Sydney look to have the Premiership stitched up at this stage. Brisbane may have some better answers next week but Canberra are floundering.
With eight minutes left, a ball comes straight up the field into the box for Toby to run at. Her kick connects at the same time the keeper does and Richards goes down as does Toby in their clash. Richards seems to have come off the worst and needs some treatment. Looks like the contact was in the thigh.
A late slide tackle on Keir by Siemsen gets her a yellow card and Canberra a free kick near the right side-line in their half. It’s initially taken short but for some reason is called back. Next time it goes to the maddening crowd. It’s headed over and to a waiting Rachael Goldstein who kicks through to Mathyssen-Whyman who has gathered it up without any problems.
Above: Remy Siemsen slides in on Canberra United’s Lauren Keir to earn a yellow card. Photo: Kris Goman.
A Canberra corner is cleared up field and Vine gets hold of it. In a solo run she avoids a defender and shoots. It’s deflected by Lauren Keir for a corner.
The corner is well managed by the Canberra defence. Richards makes a couple more saves from long shots before the end of the match. A final push by Canberra comes to naught. Sydney is victorious 4-0.
The stats come up at the end and very surprisingly Sydney’s possession is 49%. The tale is told in the territory though and that’s 59% for Sydney with 13 corners to Canberra’s 3 and 16 shots to Canberra’s 6. Shots on target: Sydney 9, Canberra 2 and balls into area: Sydney 42, Canberra 15.
Vine is the player of the match after her goal, innumerable penetrating runs and performance in defence. Well deserved.
This really was a dominating performance by Sydney and puts them well clear at the top of the table after six wins from six matches. It’s also Canberra’s first defeat of the season so the mood may be a little sombre on the bus trip back to Canberra.
Top four sides qualify for the finals at the end of the regular season.
Impetus’ coverage of Australian Women’s Football is supported by The Chicken Salt Co. They are offering every Impetus reader 5% off all orders of Chicken Salt from their website. Go to https://www.chickensalt.co.uk/?mate=impetus and place your order – 5% will automatically be taken off of the cost. The coupon code is impetus.
Ben Gilby speaks to Helston Athletic’s Sasha Sparkes, who is quite probably the greatest woman goal scorer that you may not have heard of.
Sasha Sparkes is a player with a quite phenomenal scoring record for Helston Athletic. A tally of 135 goals in 42 games of which this season 32 goals have been scored in just 12 games. Sasha is one player that is worthy of huge respect.
We started our conversation with the Cornish hotshot telling me about her background: “I come from a big happy family! I was born June 24th 1991 in Truro. We lived in Penryn and then moved to Falmouth when I was four. I’ve lived in Falmouth ever since. Falmouth for me is more than just a base, it’s the definition of home. It really is a beautiful place to live. I consider myself very lucky that I am only a two minute drive away from the beaches.”
Sasha moved on to fill us in on her footballing story: “I’ve been playing football since I was about 10 years old. I have my Dad to thank for that. He has always been very passionate about Smara (my twin sister) and myself playing the sport. We have always been quite sporty since we were little. We lived across the road from a field and any chance my dad wasn’t working he would take us over to the field and practice our basics. Kicking, dribbling, all of the stuff needed that I use today. It was in that field where we got spotted from a manager from Falmouth Town Girls U12’s.”
“We weren’t long with Falmouth Town U12’s as our friends played for Falmouth United U12’s, inevitably being young we wanted to play with our friends. Our manager Steve Oliver was a fantastic coach. It was there that we won the league four seasons on the trot. We were unstoppable. After that, for a couple of seasons, football kind of just halted. Back then there wasn’t really much of a transition from U14’s to U16’s. My friends and I played for the school team but not many games were organised so we found ourselves back in the field where it all started playing BUTT slaps or World Cup.”
“I finally turned 16 and I was introduced to the ladies game. What a difference! Seven a side to eleven a side. Thirty minute halves to forty-five minute halves. It was a huge transition but one that I welcomed. I played for Penryn Ladies for a couple of seasons and we did well, but like most ladies teams after a while the team folded. It was there that I had a phone call from Neil Phillips, a manager that played a massive role in the player I am today. He asked me to join Falmouth Town Ladies as he had a good set up with lots of decent players signing on. I signed on, worked hard and that team was one of the best teams I have ever played for. Neil worked us hard at training, hours and hours of hill sprints, bleep tests and two touch football. At the time I hated the training but the team he created and the fitness, skill and stamina of all on the pitch was truly noticeable against other teams. It was here I was partnered with Katy Barker up the top and what a truly awesome partnership we had. It was either one or the other for league top goal scorer through the seasons, we didn’t mind who got it as long as it was someone from our team.”
“I can’t remember which way around it was, but between Falmouth Town Ladies and Truro City Ladies we became 1st and 2nd in the league and were promoted to Premier Division. With players going off to university and other reasons, Neil took the chance to merge the two clubs together at Truro City. It was very hard putting the two together as we all played differently. It didn’t take long though before we started gelling as a team and our first season in the Premier Division we became league runners up. What a great finish after being promoted. It was then where players decided the travel wasn’t worth the next division. Being all the way down in Cornwall and being hundreds of miles away from top teams its hard finding committed players to travel on a Sunday.”
“I had a season out after that and that’s when Helston Ladies was formed by Stu Massey and with the help of Charlotte Sparkes-Bond. Helston had great facilities and a great pitch. Steve Massey was always helping to run the line for us and supporting us in any way that he could. Stu drove us to success and we became League Cup Winners and League runners-up. For whatever reasons, Helston then decided to fold and I had a season out. As any player would say I hung up my boots, everyone knows it’s never for very long.”
Above: Sasha Sparkes – a Cornish footballing hero. Photo: Harry Price.
“My sister signed for Illogan Ladies and I would go to support them. It didn’t take very long for myself to miss football and I signed for a few games. My heart was still with Helston and its set up, so when I got a message from Paul Parfitt that he was setting the women’s team back up, we had a chat over coffee and I liked the plans he had for the team. I signed for the team and that brings us up to present day.”
We then moved onto Sasha’s incredible goal scoring record. For her, part of the story is down to circumstances: “Helston lost the battle to enter a higher league when the club was first set up. The appeal caught attention from Richard and Warren from Cornwall FA who supported Helston with their case, but unfortunately it was unsuccessful. This then meant we had to enter the Cornwall Women’s Football League (CWFL) at the bottom of the football tier. I’m an experienced player and have been playing for 18 years and found my experience within that league beneficial to these statistics. My role as a striker is to put the ball in the back of the net, regardless of the team and the ability in front of me. That being said, I score against everyone I’ve played against regardless of their perceived level, teams such as Illogan, FXU, Saltash and Marine Academy Plymouth in the FA Cup. I have the ability to score at all levels.”
Like any good striker though, Sasha recognises that she is only as good as the structure of the club she is part of and the players who surround her: “The set up I have at Helston is like no other team I have played for. It’s honestly incredible the facilities and coaching that is offered at Helston. Firstly the manager Paul Parfitt puts the women first in everything he does. He makes sure the morale in the team is up, organises all the matches, the training, all of the social media posts, picks the team every week and liaising with our coach Martyn Pennington who is also a massive part of Helston. Paul and Martyn are a great team who work so well together. They make the smooth running of the club look very easy and behind the scenes I see how much effort they both put in and it reflects on the team. They personally give me constructive criticism after every match which I look forward to in order to improve my game, without it I wouldn’t learn to be a better player.”
“On the pitch, I’m only as good as the service I receive, which is bloody brilliant. I honestly play with the nicest bunch of women who know exactly how I play. Without my team mates I wouldn’t be able to get to the stats I have today.”
The obvious next question to ask though is, with such an incredible goal scoring record and goals-to-game ratio, does Sparkes have any desire to play at a higher level?
“I’m very happy with where I am at with Helston Women,” Sasha replies, “Our goals are to win this league and get promoted and then win the league after that. This plan is near enough in the distant future but not so far we can’t reach it. I believe a back to back promotion is a sufficient challenge for myself and Helston Women as a club as a starting point. This season we did very well in the FA Cup and we played FA Women’s National League side Southampton FC Women at home – what a tie that was – I hope next season we can go through the rounds and at least make the First Proper Round of the FA Cup.”
Above: Sasha in action for Helston against FA Women’s National League side Southampton in the FA Cup this season. Photo: Matt Friday.
Earlier in our conversation, Sasha mentioned playing football with her twin sister Smara as a child. The pair are still going strong together today at Helston: “I absolutely love playing with my twin. All of my success with football I have shared with her. We have quite the trophy hoard! Smara is quite modest and doesn’t actually know how much of a good player she is, I think that’s a great quality to have, she doesn’t need to boast as her football does the talking.”
“She’s played sweeper for many years and I trust her back there with any challenges she faces! Smara is one of the most technically gifted players in the team and her main strength is her faultless ability when she has a ball at her feet. She is one of the best sweepers I have ever come across along with Tyler Mathews from Callington Ladies. When they played together at Truro City they were a force to be reckoned with.”
With Sasha well into her eighteenth year playing the game, I wondered what was the greatest challenge she has faced in that time? “My biggest challenge I would say for myself would be the transition from U16’s to Ladies football. It was a massive thing to do and adapt to the adult game. Luckily U16’s in this day don’t have to worry too much about it. I think there is now a great stepping stone for the girls especially at Helston Women where next season we look to set up a development squad to introduce the adult game to them.”
So far we have heard what an impressive and ambitions club Helston Athletic are, but I wondered what specifically makes them so forward looking and what they are aiming for in the next few seasons.
“Our club ambition of the team is to win the Cornwall League, then take promotion and win the South-West Women’s Football League (SWWFL), progress further in the FA Cup next season and win a County Cup in the next few seasons. This we hope will then create a platform for the best local players to come to us, meaning they will not have to travel to other clubs to meet the expectations. I would love to play alongside Keri-Ann Moxom again, but she felt the need to travel to fulfil her ambitions of playing in the SWWFL. I believe when Helston gets promoted this season in to the SWWFL we will have the very best infrastructure that meets the needs of the very best local players as well as retaining the current players by matching their personal desires and pushing them to their targets. The ambition of Paul Parfitt and Paul Hendy is to turn Helston in to a powerhouse for women’s football in Cornwall. It is extremely exciting and inspiring to be part of, let alone captain the team!”
Whilst Cornwall has not quite suffered as badly as some other areas in the coronavirus pandemic, there have still been a number of restrictions imposed in the area. Sasha explains how it has impacted on the club: “It has had a massive impact on grassroots sports, but apart from the most recent lockdowns we still managed play some matches previous to that. All of the rules and regulations were adhered too and it wasn’t the same as what I’m used to but I was just glad that we could be together as a team and still play football. Lockdown 2.0 was hard as we just came together as a team and really gelled together and then we were told there would be a four week lockdown and grassroots football would be suspended. But our manager Paul Parfitt set us the ‘Lockdown Challenge’. Paul challenged us all to run at least 1km a day and with that he would donate to the Helston and Lizard Foodbank for every player that completed the challenge. Paul Hendy our chairman and Sandra Bell personally matched this also by donating a Christmas hamper to the foodbank for every player who completed it. We ended up running 400km which is a great effort by all.”
We ended the conversation by exploring what makes Sasha tick as a person. In terms of her own sporting heroes, despite having been an unashamed Red, her real hero can be found in Cornwall.
“To be honest with you, I used to be a glorified Liverpool fan and used to follow players back in 2010 when the likes of Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso played (world great players). But for me my footballing hero is a bit closer to home. My dad, as cliché as that sounds. He was a great player when he was younger. I hear many of stories about how good of a player he was. He’s taught me everything I know and has always been there for me and Smara, the cold Sunday mornings, the summer football tournaments, the football night’s out and presentations, Cornwall trials and the training sessions. He hasn’t missed one of our games, and believe me that is a lot of games! I owe a lot of my football success to him.”
Off the pitch, life for Sasha revolves around her job and partner Ellie: “I’ve worked in the cash office for Tesco’s for just over 10 years and I love my job. I have the perfect work hours and having the weekends off means I can still play football without having to get it covered. When I’m not at work or playing football I’m normally in the gym or out running. I’ve always liked to take care of myself. Having a partner who also likes to do them things is a bonus also. Our cheat days are Saturdays so we always like to find a new restaurant that we haven’t been to around Cornwall and get ourselves a well-deserved coffee and cake.”
The conversation concluded by looking at the goals that Sasha is setting herself for on and off the pitch over the coming few years.
“Well in five years’ time I shall be 34, and not sure I will be as agile as I am now. My plan in the future personally is to start a family with my partner Ellie. There will be a time that I hang up my boots and stop playing the sport. Before I do, there are a lot of achievements left that I would like to contribute too. Ellie also plays for the team and is a great centre back. I’m worried for her little head with how many headers she connects too. We will absolutely be there on the side line cheering on Helston Women and supporting them in any way that we can.”
Western Sydney Wanderers ended a run of losses after gaining a draw against Adelaide United at Marconi Stadium.
Above: Seventeen year-old Western Sydney Wanderers starlet Sarah Hunter grabbed her first two W-League goals in only her third game. Photo: Kris Goman,
When they say Western Sydney, they really mean Western Sydney. Marconi stadium is a long way from the City of Sydney – forty kilometres from my house in the inner west. This is actually my favorite stadium despite the long drive. There’s plenty of parking, plenty of seating, an old school tuck shop and it’s usually not too crowded which I like. It’s also a stadium that, when there’s not a global pandemic, it’s easy to meet the players afterwards and get autographs and photos. And it’s the Wander Women’s home ground.
Adelaide United are playing in their yellow and red away uniform which makes it look like they work at a multi-national fast food chain. Mac attack coming up. Unusually for a women’s soccer team, most of the South Australian side seem quite tall, with the exception of Rojas. They must have the tallest average of all the teams in the W-League by a long shot.
Wanderers are playing 4-3-1-2 and Adelaide are playing 4-3-3. Wanderers kick off, lose possession immediately and are pushed back. They get possession back and drive forward and eventually Leena Khamis takes a shot from outside the box that goes straight to the keeper. She hasn’t scored this season yet and questions need to be asked about this soon. Wanderers are keeping quite a high line and exerting some early pressure.
In this match, possession it more like ping pong. It’s back and forth, passes are badly directed and it’s usually more than one touch to bring the ball under control. For the W-League to get better, the passing game really needs to improve.
Nikola Orgill sends a cross into the box which is headed by Sarah Hunter over to Khamis. It arrives a bit high for Khamis to control and her aerial kick goes wide to the right.
Above: Leena Khamis strains to reach a header against Adelaide United. Photo: Kris Goman.
Hunter then passes to Georgia Yeoman-Dale at the top of the box and she dribbles the ball to the left of goal and sends a cross right across the front of goal but there’s no one there to tap it in and an opportunity goes begging.
Adelaide make a couple of forays into the Wanderers half but they result in long shots into Willacy’s arms.
A ball bounces into the box for Yeoman-Dale (Yeo-Da) to take a shot on her left foot but it’s just wide to the right and sails out harmlessly. Looks like she copped an elbow to the nose soon after and it’s bleeding a bit so play stops for that to be attended to. A long ball from Maria Jose Rojas comes through the centre for Chelsie Dawber to run onto and Adelaide are taking more control. Orgill manages to draw a foul to stop the run. Shortly after, Dawber makes another run into the box that’s foiled by a slide tackle from Caitlin Cooper.
Down the other end, Danika Matos sends a great ball across to Khamis but the header goes well wide to the right of the box. Following up, Yeo-Da gets a free kick from a foul on the right hand side of the box. The ball goes to the far post but Khamis can’t control the header, which admittedly wasn’t in a great position, and it bounces over the goal line.
We’re thirty minutes in and Wanderers look to be the better side with more possession and more chances but Adelaide have looked dangerous on transition.
Speaking of transitions, at thirty-three minutes in, a lob comes in to Dawber from the right and Sarah Willacy is right off her line to meet the oncoming attack. Dawber flicks it up and Willacy gets a hand to it but it’s not enough to deflect the power or direction and the ball hits the back of the net for Adelaide.
Almost immediate after the kick-off, Chloe Middleton gets a shot on goal after a miss-kick by Matilda McNamara but it’s wide to the left. On another transition play for Adelaide, Dawber sends a long ball from the left to Mallory Weber in the box but Willacy beats her to it and has it safely.
Charlotte Grant kicks off an attack for Adelaide with a nice run and pass into the box that is cleared but goes straight back to Adelaide. Grant gets the ball again on the right of the box and has a little battle with Yeoman-Dale before passing back to Dawber who also manages to avoid Yeo-Da. She crosses a beautiful pass to the feet of Rojas at the top of the box who slips it past Willacy towards the left post. It’s in the net but Rojas is offside so it doesn’t count. I replayed this a few times as the broadcast replay made it look like she wasn’t offside but she definitely was when the ball was kicked so good call. Nice play though.
Above: Charlotte Grant trying to find a way through for Adelaide United. Photo: Kris Goman.
Another good play by Adelaide sees the ball moving around the box culminating in a header by Weber that skims the top post. Adelaide have stepped it up now.
Three minutes before the break, Yeoman-Dale gets the ball on the right flank. She beats Grant and brings it into the box for the cross. Near the goal line she flicks it back in front of goal. Hunter runs onto it and directs it to the far post and it beats a stretching Sian Fryer-McLaren and Isabel Hodgson’s feet for her first goal in the W-League. She’s obviously got a few friends in the crowd as there’s a lot of excited screaming. We’re level at 1-1 now.
Above: Wanderers celebrate their equalising goal before half-time. Photo: Kris Goman.
From the kick-off, Wanderers are back with possession after Russell, the Irish international, intercepts a poor pass and gets it across to Yeo-Da, centred at the top of the box. She leans back too much and has skied a sitter.
With a minute of stoppage time, the Wanderers get a free kick after Russell is slightly injured in a heavy tackle. The ball goes to the right of the box but is harmlessly out over the goal line in a wasted opportunity before the interval.
Wanderers are applying the pressure early in the second half and Khamis gets a penetrating run down the left but her back pass is squandered. Western Sydney get a free kick just out from the top of the box after a heavy tackle on Khamis by Maruschka Waldus. Adelaide sets up a five person wall. Yeo-Da to take it. It clears the wall but she’s had too many Weetbix this morning and it keeps going over the top bar.
A Wanderers short corner is cleared by Adelaide but on the way down the other half, Dawber gets an elbow from Orgill and is straight down clutching her throat. It will take her a little while to recover from that and it looks very uncomfortable. Surprisingly there’s no foul and play is restarted from a throw in. Rojas gets a run into the box but is surrounded by three defenders who relieve her of the ball. She’s technically so good but can’t overcome those numbers.
Above: Western Sydney Wanderers and Adelaide United battle it out for possession at a corner. Photo: Kris Goman.
Back at the other end Russell slides a lovely pass to Hunter who’s threatening a second goal but McNamara blocks the shot and it’s out for a corner. Nevin takes it and it’s to the far post but is cleared out of the box. From a throw-in, both Russell and Khamis get a shot but both are blocked and Fryer-McLaren scoops it up. I’d half like to start calling her Fry-Mac but it doesn’t have the same ring to it and it’s just too redolent of the previously mentioned fast food chain. Big Mac might be more appropriate given her height.
Possession is currently 60 – 40 in favour of Western Sydney and it feels that way with Adelaide very dependent on transitions. But it is working for them.
A nice attacking run comes from a clearance from Fryer-McLaren direct to Hunter who turns it around and passes to Russell who sends a lovely ball through to Matos who runs onto it in the box. Her cross is spectacularly blocked by Waldus who stops Khamis from scoring an almost definite goal. Khamis clutches her head in dismay but later jokes about it with Waldus as they line up for the resulting corner.
Hunter takes the corner and it’s perfectly sent to Khamis’ head at the back of the box. The header is on target but straight to Fryer-McLaren’s safe hands.
Weber’s got some fancy footwork as she slips past a couple of Wanderers to bring the ball down the left. She sends it forward to Rojas who crosses in the box but she’s offside again, in what was a threatening run.
Fiona Worts comes on for United and gets employed immediately in a couple of runs down the left before it’s passed across to Grant on the right. There’s some play near the right corner flag before it goes out for an Adelaide corner. Almost everyone is directly in front of a very crowded goal for this. Inexplicably it goes to the back of the box and is headed away by Yeoman-Dale. Georgia Campagnale sends it straight back in. It’s picked up by Waldus. She gets it out wide and a cross then comes in to Dylan Holmes who takes a high strike off her chest and belts it past Willacy to take Adelaide into the lead again.
After the restart, Adelaide could have got a match clinching third when Rojas is through, but Willacy is quick off her line and gets there first and clears it emphatically.
Shortly after, Nevis makes a break down the left and gets a pass to Teigan Collister but she can’t connect and Fryer-McLaren gathers it up.
It’s straight back up the other end and Rojas is causing more mischief before playing to Condon in the box. Her shot goes high.
Wanderers break back immediately and Collister is off down the right hand side. She crosses back to Hunter who is always following up and in the right spot at the right time and she slots it under the arm of Fryer-McLaren as she jumps sideways and it rolls into goal. Grant takes a desperate lunge to try to save it but ends up prone in the goal with a cramp which Fryer-McLaren helps her to stretch out. 2-2 and we’re level again at 78 minutes. The seventeen year-old Hunter grabs the ball out of goal and runs back towards the centre with her celebrating teammates in hot pursuit.
Adelaide are back on the attack with another Rojas crusade. It’s blocked out for a corner by Orgill this time and clearly no one is giving up. The corner comes to nothing at the near post.
Copus-Brown cops a yellow for holding Dawber and bringing her down. The free kick goes over to the right from the left side but eventually it’s out on the sideline for an Adelaide throw in.
A long ball down the middle finds Rojas in a tussle with Orgill. Orgill goes over and Wanderers gets a free kick but it doesn’t really look like it was Rojas’ fault. Cooper comes through to cover and Rojas isn’t happy about it and there’s a bit of pushing and shoving between the two. Love a bit of South American passion.
Above: Libby Copus-Brown tries to get away for Western Sydney Wanderers. Photo: Kris Goman.
The ball goes up to the Wanderers end and there’s a couple of well- connected passes between Copus-Brown and Hunter. The teenager takes another shot, looking for her hat-trick, but it’s not on target this time and sails clear of the goal.
Both teams get a couple more runs into goal including one from Worts with a nice cross that is into empty space followed by a floater from Khamis straight to the keeper.
Rojas gets into the box yet again and passes back to Dawber but her shot is deflected out by Matos for a corner. That play looked genuinely threatening and we’re in the last minutes of a drawn game so the tension is high. Once again, absolutely everybody is in front of goal. This time the ball lands in the middle of the whirlpool. Waldus gets a head to it and it bounces straight up and Galea manages to clear out to the right side-line. Adelaide is applying all the pressure right now and Waldus gets another crack but sends it high over the goal.
Into stoppage time, Collister gets another wonderful cross from the right directly in front of goal but Galea can’t do anything with it under this pressure. Adelaide transition again and Worts is on the left in the clear. She gets it to Dawber who passes back to her at the top of the box. Her shot is just to the right of the post as she tries to curl it, in a pretty close call.
Some sloppy passing by both teams sees two chances squandered before Worts gets it on the right, passes to Campagnale who gets it across to Rojas who is unmarked and onside. She turns and shoots but Willacy has come out, made herself big and deflects the shot in a match saving move. She’s earned her pay today with that save alone. The game ends with extended ping pong in the midfield and we’re drawn two all at full time.
Above: Maria Jose Rojas caught the eye once more for Adelaide United. Photo: Kris Goman,
Hunter is player of the match with her first two W-League goals in just her third game. Apart from the goals, she was very solid in defence and all over the park backing up with ferocity. It’s a good call for this award and well deserved for a young player. I watch afterwards and she’s swamped by her friends from the stands that are understandably excited for her. She’s embarrassed by the attention but is lapping it up.
ADELAIDE UNITED: Fryer-McLaren, Grant, I. Hodgson, McNamara, Walder, Campagnale, Holmes, Condon, Rojas, Dawber, Webber. Substitutes: Grove (GK), E. Hodgson, Hogg, Worts.
Scorers: Dawber 33. Holmes 71.
Referee: Rebecca Durcau.
Attendance: 415.
Impetus’ coverage of Australian Women’s Football is supported by The Chicken Salt Co. They are offering every Impetus reader 5% off all orders of Chicken Salt from their website. Go to https://www.chickensalt.co.uk/?mate=impetus and place your order – 5% will automatically be taken off of the cost. The coupon code is impetus.
Melbourne Victory hosted Newcastle Jets at a windy Latrobe City Stadium in Gippsland. Victory needed to win to keep up the pressure on Adelaide in fourth spot above them but The Jets with the in-form Tara Andrews are not a side to be taken lightly.
Above: Melina Ayres celebrates her brace in Melbourne Victory’s dramatic win over Newcastle Jets today. Photo: @VictoryWLeague.
Victory started aggressively, they moved the ball forward at pace, pressed high up the field and were eager to test Newcastle ‘keeper Nicole Simonsen early and often from long range, looking perhaps to take advantage of the swirly, blustery conditions.
The breakthrough came early, after some tricky wing play by Mindy Barbieri in the 13th minute, Amy Jackson teed up a shot from distance that fell to the feet of Melina Ayres. The Victory striker struck quickly and accurately off her left foot and into the corner, the ball almost crossing the line before the defence had time to react. It was an instinctive strike of great technique that took Simonsen by surprise.
Melbourne kept the pressure up and Catherine Zimmerman was unlucky not to double the lead minutes later after her shot fizzed wide and Barbieri was next to try her luck from long range after Kyra Cooney-Cross created some space with a clever dribble down the centre.
The first half continued to be all Victory, The Jets had trouble clearing the ball or finding any fluency in attack. Cooney-Cross whipped in a free kick that bounced dangerously but wide and Claudia Bunge saw her headed attempt on goal from a corner cleared off the line by some desperate defending.
Newcastle appeared to be doing well to stay in the contest, Lauren Allan tracked back well to stop a mazy run into the box by Lia Privitelli but the corner kicks were coming repeatedly for The Jets to defend and it felt inevitable when one finally resulted in a goal.
Claudia Bunge again got on the end of a corner kick, again it was on target but this time it crossed the line. She stooped down low to meet the ball and connected well, Simonsen reacted quickly enough to reach it, but not cleanly enough to stop it bobbling over for a goal, it was a touch unlucky for Newcastle, but Victory had deserved a second.
Before half time Victory added a third, Catherine Zimmerman who had been a lively nuisance all game collected the ball facing goal and slipped in a well-weighted ball into the path of the overlapping Cooney-Cross. The Victory playmaker, collected it without breaking stride, cruised into the penalty area and after a quick glance to see if a square-pass was on she finished confidently into the far bottom corner off her left foot.
Above: Kyra Cooney-Cross (7) is congratulated after scoring for Victory. Photo: @VictoryWLeague
After the break, Newcastle scored early and gave themselves a lifeline, a long ball forward wasn’t dealt with by the Victory defence, and the ball fell to Tara Andrews, she’s been deadly around goal this season and did not hesitate to pull the trigger, smashing the ball past Garton and into the far corner off the left foot. Bunge had done well to contain her up until this point but good strikers only need one half chance and Andrews took hers with deadly efficiency.
Victory substitute Lisa De Vanna set about immediately restoring the three-goal lead, she ran onto a long ball and cut back onto her right foot wonderfully with a back heel move in the box. She shot but was well blocked by some committed defending.
De Vanna again broke free behind the defenders and ran onto a Melina Ayres through ball only to be denied by Simonsen in a one-on-one face off. De Vanna was causing problems with her movement and skill but would have expected to score from that range, Simonsen did very well to narrow the angle and save.
Newcastle heads didn’t drop despite being on the back foot and Rhinanna Pollicina in particular looked determined to impact the game, a great run and pass by Sophie Harding on the left flank found Pollicina in space but her shot from 20 yards was scuffed and did not trouble Garton.
She did not have to wait long for her next opportunity, a long ball from defence found her in a surprisingly amount of space behind the Victory defence but still onside, she spotted Gabby Garton well off her line and coolly lofted the ball over to bring Newcastle to 3-2 and with 15 minutes to play.
Victory responded by going straight on the attack again. De Vanna played in Kyra Cooney-Cross, the young gun strode into the area and shaped to shoot but Hannah Brewer slid in brilliantly to clear the ball. It had to be a perfect tackle, any half-second off and it would have been a penalty and maybe game over.
Newcastle kept trying but Victory had them pinned back again as in the early stages of the game, after a sustained period of pressure Barbieri played the ball wide to Melina Ayres. She had the time and technique to shift inside from the right flank and line up a shot on her rocket of a left foot. The ball flew through a crowded penalty box and nestled into the net to restore the 2 goal cushion and relieve the tension.
The game ended 4-2, Cooney-Cross had a late chance to extend the lead with after racing toward goal and shooting off her right but The Jets were spared a fifth. Victory seem to be clicking, the team has consistency in its line-up and developing it in its performances. They have a skilled, unpredictable and mobile attack and can bring on the all-time leading Matilda’s scorer off the bench when 3-0 up (this feels like a violation of a “Mercy Rule” but I checked and none exists).
Above: Melbourne Victory had plenty to celebrate as they close in on cementing a top four place. Photo: @VictoryWLeague.
Newcastle remain a watchable team. Pollicina was well deserving of her first W-League goal and with Tara Andrews up front they can never be counted out of any game.
It was a thrilling, high scoring game with no broadcast issues, what more could you want from a Sunday evening Dub game?
Impetus’ coverage of Australian Women’s Football is supported by The Chicken Salt Co. They are offering every Impetus reader 5% off all orders of Chicken Salt from their website. Go to https://www.chickensalt.co.uk/?mate=impetus and place your order – 5% will automatically be taken off of the cost. The coupon code is impetus.
After a last minute reshuffle of venues, AAMI Park was the stage for Melbourne City and Sydney F.C to face each other again for the first time since the last Grand Final.
Above: Sydney FC celebrate Natalie Tobin’s goal which clinched their 2-0 win. Photo: @SydneyFC
Sydney have been the most consistent side this season, undefeated after four games and putting themselves squarely in the top four, Melbourne City have been a team that has struggled for results but not for lack of effort, but more a lack of luck and perhaps a center forward.
The game started at a fast pace, both teams snapped into challenges and pressed without possession and both tried to play short quick passes when they had the ball. It was an erratic opening, neither team seemed afraid to make an error with fullbacks from both sides keen to attack down the flanks.
The first clear chance of the game came when Harriet Withers was released on the counter attack and after a surging run down the right flank she found Alex Chidiac on the edge of the area. With her back to goal Chidiac controlled the ball and swiveled to wrong foot the defense and leave her with only goalkeeper Jada Whyman to beat.
It looked a certain goal and a player of Chidiac’s quality would have felt confident of scoring, somehow Whyman managed to block the shot and keep the scores level. Sydney hit back through Princess Ibini, the young attacker wriggling between City players and turning to shoot from 18 yards out, the shot whizzed over the bar without troubling Micah but it was a warning to City that they had better not let Ibini shoot too often.
Withers and Chidiac combined again in a similar pattern, this time Chidiac shuffled herself into space and onto her left foot from 20 yards out, hitting a powerful shot just a little too high.
As play began to open up, Ibini got into space, when faced one on one with Teigen Allen she sized up the defender, slowed down a little and put on a burst of pace to cruise in on goal, Teagan Micah did very well to come out and smother the shot. It would be the last meaningful attack of the first half and both sides would have been thankful to their goalkeepers for keeping the scores level.
Above: Tori Tumeth controls the ball in the first half for Melbourne City. Photo: @MelbourneCity
Leah Davidson and Tyla-Jay Vlajnic had been busy for City with Emma Checker and Jenna McCormick’s partnership at the back denying the visitors any easy chances. For Sydney, Ibini looked dangerous and Ally Green was tireless and skillful on the left side, keeping tabs on Withers while getting forward herself regularly.
While the first half was balanced, exciting and tense it had the feeling of being only a moment of magic or a slip of the foot away from breaking open and when Shinatsu Kira latched onto a badly controlled ball and ran in on goal it looked like that moment had arrived. Whyman again was well positioned to stop it but Kira probably should have done better she couldn’t have known at the time, but this miss would prove very costly.
The ball went up the other end, Courtnee Vine competed with Emma Checker and won out, controlling the ball on the edge of the penalty box. She slipped a perfectly timed pass to the overlapping Remy Siemsen who cruised between the defenders and slotted the ball into the bottom corner, Sydney up 1-0.
It was a well-worked goal, a combination of direct football, clever movement and skilful footwork, both in the pass and in the finish.
Above: One of the few positives for Melbourne City on the night was a debut for 16 year-old Naomi Thomas-Chinnama. Photo: @MelbourneCity
The evening would go from bad to worse for City, Courtnee Vine was becoming more involved and looking more dangerous each time she was on the ball. She was responsible for the game altering moment when she received the ball at half way and seeing a paddock of space in front of her, charged toward goal. Vlajnic, who had been a danger to Sydney’s defence with her own runs, sprinted across field in an attempt to halt Vine’s momentum. The result was a missed tackle, a foul and a red card as the last defender, City were now down a goal and a vital player.
City battle bravely, Withers moved centrally and looked like a handful with her pace and tenacity. She found space for a shot that Whyman was equal to and again found Chidiac who couldn’t forge the right angle to score.
Courtnee Vine continued to torment the City defense her speed troubling them again when she ran onto a 40 yard Polias pass, however her shot could only find the side netting.
Another blow to City occurred soon after.
Jenna McCormick had put in a warrior-like shift, beginning the game bandaged and battling through the pain for the next hour. She had defended solidly and looked determined to help drag City back into the game. When the injury caught up to her it couldn’t have come at a worse time, Sydney had a corner, McCormick was receiving treatment behind the goal and City were temporarily down to nine players.
Teresa Polias whipped in the corner kick to the far post and Natalie Tobin rose highest to nod home, Sydney were 2-0 and even taking into account the considerable misfortune and errors by City, they deserved their lead.
Above: Natalie Tobin (12) celebrates her winner. Photo: @SydneyFC
City would battle on bravely but aside from some set pieces they did not trouble the Sydney F.C defense. Vine and Siemsen continued to threaten but could not extend the lead. Sydney probably wont mind thought. They had only just arrived in Melbourne that morning and it was an admirable, gusty and skillful win against determined opposition.
Melbourne City will be hoping that Jenna McCormick and Teigen Allen make swift recoveries from their respective injuries, the two Australian Internationals will be vital to salvaging the season. At the other end, Rado Vidosic will be eager to solve their goal scoring problems.
Impetus’ coverage of Australian Women’s Football is supported by The Chicken Salt Co. They are offering every Impetus reader 5% off all orders of Chicken Salt from their website. Go to https://www.chickensalt.co.uk/?mate=impetus and place your order – 5% will automatically be taken off of the cost. The coupon code is impetus.
@DandalBs is back for his regular Saturday round-up of all the week’s news and speculation from the women’s game in Sweden. Once more, the new BK Häcken FFclub are taking most of the headlines, but there’s also signs of international football returning…
Once again, the club making the most news is BK Häcken FF who formally took over the reigning Damallsvenskan champions Kopparbergs/Göteborg last week. They have announced that the long drawn out process has resulted in them only having seventeen players under contract at the time of writing. The uncertainty since Christmas had prevented any new signings. The first attempt to build the squad saw Serbian international forward Milica Mijatović become BK Häcken FF’s first ever signing. Mijatović most recently played for Apollon Limassol in Cyprus an before that won last season’s W-League title with Melbourne City. She has signed an eighteen month deal.
Above: Milica Mijatović, who will go down in the record books as BK Häcken FF’s first ever signing. Photo: @bkhackenff
To make their squad even smaller, three players, Hanna Wijk, Lotta Ökvist and Filippa Curmark have been injured in training. Additionally, FAWSL side Brighton & Hove Albion have signed Emma Koivisto on an 18-month contract from the club. The consequence of this is the club’s friendly match against Jitex in midweek had to be cancelled. They will hope that the injuries clear up in time to play their next scheduled friendly against Linköping today.
In terms of their management and coaching staff, BK Häcken have made big steps already. Rumour has it that former Sweden, Göteborg and Lyon great Lotta Schelin is one of the names up to discussion for their first Director of Sport. Schelin says she’s not closing any doors.
Above: Speculation is linking Swedish football great Lotta Schelin to BK Häcken as Director of Sport. Photo: Wikipedia.
The club have added to their senior team coaching staff by appointing Erika Faith, who works with their pre-existing fourth tier team to also becoming assistant coach with their new Damallsvenskan team.
PRE-SEASON GAME NEWS:
The pre-season schedule for Damallsvanskan sides has just got underway. Yesterday, Växjö lost 0-3 at home to Rosengård, goals by Viggosdottir, Larsson and Schough were the difference. Today sees many more friendlies: Brommapojkarna face Djurgården at 1pm, Kristianstad are home to Borgeby at 2pm, BK Häcken FF play their first game against Linköping at 3:50pm. Hammarby take on AIK at 4pm with Örebro playing IFK Kalmar at 4pm. All kick-offs are local time – subtract one hour for UK time.
NEWS IN BRIEF:
Mia Eriksson reportsthat Sweden’s national women’s team will travel to Malta during the international break to play games vs Austria (February 19th) and Malta (February 23rd).
Piteå won their first pre-season game, against IFK Luleå’s 16 year-old boys team 4-0. Goals by Jennie Nordin, Hanna Andersson, Maja Green and Cecilia Edlund earned the win.
Djurgården has added another goalkeeper to their squad with the arrival of 24 year-old American Kelsey Daugherty. Daugherty spent two seasons at top Danish sideFortuna Hjörring and after that an uneventful last half of 2020 with Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL.
Lova Lundin, Umeå‘s second top goalscorer last season has left the club. The 22 year-old forward has joined EDF Logroño who sit just above the relegation zone in the Spanish Primera.
Above: Lova Lundin unveiled by EDF Logroño after signing from Umeå. Photo: EDF Logroño
The 26 year-old former Uppsala forward Nicole Odelberg Modin has signed for Spanish Primera side RCD Espanyol for the rest of the season.
As part of Time To Talk Day, Wroxham Women’s Zoe Cossey gave an extremely powerful and personal interview to Ben Gilby about mental health, the importance of support networks and how it’s more than OK to ask for help when things are tough.
The impact of mental health is taking on ever more importance at the present time due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on people who are forced to remain at home and face all sorts of concerns about their families and employment.
As someone who has suffered myself with mental health difficulties in the past and came out the other end because of the excellent support of the NHS, it is hugely important to try and help other people. It’s all very well for people to say “Oh, I imagine it must be awful” – but unless you’ve been there, you can’t imagine how awful it is.
This is something that Zoe Cossey, who plays for fifth tier Wroxham Women in the Eastern Region Premier Division can certainly identify with.
“I’ve struggled with my mental health for about three years now however I’m very lucky to have a great support network. I am now very open and honest with the fact I struggle with mental health, which I never used to be. I’ve had an incredible journey and I’m so happy with how far I’ve come, I’m very proud of myself for that.”
Zoe herself has extensive experience in women’s football despite being just 22 years-old. “I have spent the last sixteen years of my life playing football for teams like Waveney, Bohemians, Lowestoft Town, Ipswich Town and currently Wroxham Woman. I live with my boyfriend, my two step sons and we will be welcoming another little boy in June.”
She highlighted the importance of Time To Talk Day for helping others: “It is a fantastic initiative. It helps bring awareness, develops understanding and challenges ignorance. It encourages people to talk and listen about mental health. Talking is unbelievably important in the journey to battle mental health.
“This year has been unbelievably difficult for everyone, but it can be significantly amplified for people who struggle with mental health. Not being able to do our ‘usual’ things and so many restrictions to our days, it takes its toll on all of us. For me, I’m a very family orientated person. I can only describe seeing them like a comfort blanket and not being able to see my family has really had an effect on my mental health. That’s why it’s been so important to open up and talk. Learning new ways and becoming more adaptable. We learn through others, other people’s experience and that’s another reason I feel it is so important to talk.”
Above: Zoe Cossey of Wroxham Women. Photo: Rebecca Burton.
I mentioned to Zoe that through my own previous struggle with mental health, I was fortunate to have great support from my family and the NHS to come through the other end. However, I’m more than aware than this is something that not everyone else may be lucky enough to have. I wondered what advice Zoe would you give to people who may not have people immediately close by to touch base with.
“There is always someone to listen,” she highlighted. “In the moment you may feel like there’s not. But there’s always someone. Even if it’s not immediate family or friends. There are so many fantastic support lines if you don’t have someone immediately close. There is nothing at all to be embarrassed or worried about, I’ve used them and they were so caring and understanding. It’s hard to take that first step but It’s what they are there for. Use them to help you. It really can make the biggest difference to your mental health and perspective on all situations.”
With Zoe having played for several different clubs in her time in women’s football, I wanted to ask her from her experience what she found mental health support to be like in our sport.
“Personally it’s very different in a variety of places. It all comes down to management, teammates and the club. I cannot express the amount of love and support I’ve had from everyone at Wroxham. I’ve never felt ashamed or had to hide my worries. I’ve been able to be open and honest about my struggles and have been supported throughout them.”
However positive things are at Wroxham, there are always things that can be done to improve the situation further. Zoe was clear on how things can get even better: “I feel like the more support given to people, as well as the more informed people are, the less stigma there is around mental health. It’s a really hard matter to understand what it’s like until you’ve gone through it in some form. So never judge a person who struggles, because that judgement is the problem and a big reason people don’t open up. If you don’t know how to help just be kind. That’s it. Be nice. That one bit of kindness could change a person’s day drastically.”
“The provisions and support in place for mental health is improving every day. I wouldn’t say its spot on yet, but it’s absolutely heading in the right direction. That’s why initiatives like Time To Talk and additional government funding will make a significant difference.”
With children missing a lot of school at the present time and being denied sporting opportunities as well, I wanted to ask Zoe what she feels are the key priorities in developing mental health support for them.
Above: Zoe has had a hugely positive experience with Wroxham Women. Photo: Rebecca Burton.
“Mental health is talked about much more now than it ever has and whilst growing up children go through so much. So it’s essential all children feel supported and are fully aware of positive outlets for their thoughts and feelings. It’s important they know where they can go for support and who they are able to speak to. As well as this, children must be educated on techniques of how to cope with their feelings and emotions. Growing up can be difficult so it’s important they are educated on positive ways to deal with their emotions.”
“Children must know they are supported through everything also. They must know their thoughts, feelings and emotions will not be dismissed. There are so many people around to support and help them even if they don’t feel like they have with immediate family and/or friends. Ensuring children are aware of these support networks is absolutely vital in supporting the mental health of young people.”
“In regards to sports, playing competitively can be quite stressful and can cause anxiety for some people. It’s essential that children are supported and understood to allow them to grow and be successful playing sports. Sport and physical activity is proven to significantly improve a person’s mental health, providing it is in a caring, supportive environment. Always remember, player before the sport.”
We concluded our chat by finding out what Zoe’s plans were for Time To Talk Day: “I have completed a mental health first aid qualification and support some of my students at work.”
“I try to use my social media to share good ideas and personal experiences to support and talk about my mental health. I hope this helps just at least one person cope a little bit better or makes them smile in some way.”
It was an absolute pleasure to hear Zoe’s thoughts, she comes across as a true example of someone who is a fine role model for young women and girls both within and outside of football.
If you take one thing from this article, remember this piece of advice Zoe gave us when reacting to others: “Just be kind. That’s it. Be nice. That one bit of kindness could change a person’s day drastically.”
Impetus are hugely proud to have an official partnership with Wroxham Women, which includes the player sponsorship of Harriet Meers. Artwork: Graphics by PW.
impetusfootball.org 