Supplied by AWSA and transcribed by Thomas Esamie
| Home Team | v | Away Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round Five (played December 1 & 2) | ||||
| Northern NSW Pride
Carpenter, Ingles, Alley (Aimie Neilson 27), Wilson (Cooper 54), Stevens, Tristram, Shepherd, Amber Neilson, Dunne (Randall 50), Gill, Crawford |
0 | - | 5 | Canberra Eclipse
Hartley (Marzotto 79), Starr, Borucinski, Taylor, Davies, P Hepperlin (Staniforth 74 (D Hepperlin 83)), Wainwright, Karp, Thomson (Kunz 90), Wilson, Munoz (David 80) Goals : Caitlin Munoz 2, 62, 71, Gill Thomson 3, Tal Karp 65 |
| Canberra Eclipse proved far too strong for an understrength
Northern NSW Pride, nailing two goals in the opening three minutes and going on to win
5-0. Munoz opened the visitors' account in the 2nd minute when put through by a
great Amy Wilson through ball. A minute later, a defensive mix-up dealing with a cross
from the left allowed Gill Thomson to nip in and double the lead.
Eclipse then scored another three goals within the space of nine minutes midway through the second half. Munoz finished off a Sacha Wainwright cross from the left, before Tal Karp then struck from a corner kick which was not cleared. Munoz then celebrated a hattrick with a skilful move, beating her opponent with a quick turn before finishing well with her right foot past another defender. Northern's Jodie Randall made her comeback from long-term knee injury in the second half and instantly impressed, and was unlucky not to score a consolation goal. | ||||
| Victoria Vision
Barbieri, Bisby, Wright, McEvoy, Minstrell, Groenewald, Smith, Digiammarco, Terek, Pacella, Kuralay Goals : Belinda Pacella 18, Louisa Bisby 21 |
2 | - | 1 | Adelaide Sensation
Trimboli, Vozzo, Burgess, May, Winn (Walsh 80), Madden, Salisbury, Stocco, Papageorgiou (Harrison 63), De Vanna, Augimeri Goal : Lia Augimeri 5 |
| Victoria Vision signed off the first half of the season with
a confidence-boosting upset over Adelaide Sensation, coming back from a goal down to win
2-1. Adelaide took the lead after just five minutes, Lisa De Vanna with some clever work
setting up Lia Augimeri who nailed home from the edge of the 6yard box.
Vision then started to make their presence felt and quickly snatched the lead. Leigh Terek's cross was finished well by Belinda Pacella, which was also her first ever WNSL goal. Then just three minutes later, Victoria's Louisa Bisby was presented with the ball and lobbed from 35 metres. The keeper was unable to hold the shot as it flew in just under the bar. Adelaide, led up front by De Vanna, were unlucky not to score another, and Vision held on to celebrate a welcome three points. | ||||
| Queensland Sting
Nichols, McShea, Grant, Bartlett, Tramacchi, Nolan, Hohnke (Mitchell 82), Ferguson, Reuter, Harch, Thomas (Cusack 69) Goal : Olivia Hohnke 67 |
1 | - | 1 | NSW Sapphires
Kell, Tann-Darby, Warrener, Slatyer, Rockall, Garriock, Peters, McCallum, Carney, Golebiowski (Cannuli 67), Cavanagh Goal : Collette McCallum 69 |
| The rematch of last year's grandfinal was a much tighter
affair than commonly anticipated, considering NSW's blitzing form to date. An evenly
fought first half saw both teams with opportunities but no goals scored.
A dramatic second interval was to follow. A Sting penalty kick taken by Zoe Nolan was struck straight at the keeper and saved by Cassandra Kell. Shortly after, Nolan was fouled and the resultant direct freekick was well converted by Olivia Hohnke to give Queensland the lead. However, only two minutes later, NSW levelled, Collette McCallum scoring her first league goal with a neat strike from 20 metres. In a frantic end to the clash, both searching for the winner, Sapphires had the best chance with two minutes remaining. Anissa Tann-Darby hit a stunning direct freekick, only to be denied by keeper Claire Nichols with an equally brilliant diving save at full stretch to tip the ball around the post, and the match ended up all square. | ||||