Match of the Round
New Lambton FC v Lake Macquarie City FC
This match was postponed due to wet weather conditions.
Maitland FC 2-2 Adamstown Rosebud JFC
Adamstown Rosebud JFC coach Martin Slade says he was disappointed with the result but not the performance after a thrilling 2-2 draw with Maitland FC at Cooks Square Park on Sunday evening.
The league leaders came from behind twice to snatch a point in the dying minutes after a drama-filled match-up.
It was a special day for the home side as they held their annual brain cancer awareness match in tribute to captain Sophie Stapleford, who is a brain cancer survivor.
Maitland was noticeably missing their leading goal scorer, Marry Ntsweng, after she suffered a knock in the Women’s League Cup final.
The Buds immediately got themselves on the scoreboard after they hit the back of the net in the second minute of the match.
Eva Donnelly used her pace to get in behind Maitland’s defence and onto the end of a long ball.
Goalkeeper Annabella Thornton came off her line and made herself big, but Donnelly’s hard and low strike bounced off the shot stopper's leg and into the goal.
Adamstown lost experienced midfielder Leah O'Hagan in the 33rd minute in her return to the club’s first grade side after she was substituted with a leg injury.
Maitland pushed for an equaliser, but Adamstown continued to scrap in defence and went into the sheds with the 1-0 advantage.
The home side clawed their way back into the contest when Stapleford levelled the score in the 49th minute.
Georgia Amess sprinted towards goal with the ball before she sliced it past Bud’s defenders and onto the run of Stapleford, who slid in at the back post and smashed the ball into the back of the net.
But the score was not locked up for long after Adamstown edged ahead for the second time in the game a minute later.
Some good team play saw the ball move from the kickoff straight up the park and to the feet of Bud’s Mia Cook, who got tangled up with Maitland defenders and Thornton but guided the ball while on the ground into the empty goal.
It looked like Adamstown would serve Maitland their first loss in the NPLW NNSW competition as they held their 2-1 lead into the 90th minute, but the game was flipped on its head in stoppage time.
Bud’s Evie Horgan received a straight red card and Amess a yellow card after a physical altercation in the first minute of stoppage time.
Maitland was able to capitalise on their extra player advantage and equalised in the final moments of the match.
Sophie Jones held up the ball at the edge of the penalty area before she laid it off to Renee Pountney, who struck the ball with power into the bottom corner of the net and past the fingertips of goalkeeper Olivia Sneddon.
There was not enough time left for either side to score the winner, which saw the points shared at the final whistle.
Slade was let down to let the win slip away but credited his players for their efforts.
“It is really hard to put into words how I am feeling. As a group, we are disappointed in not winning. We should be disappointed with the result but not disappointed with the performance,” Slade said.
“I thought they [Maitland] had far more of the ball. Liv [Sneddon] had to make numerous saves but I thought we defended well and were organised. I thought we limited them.
“We went down to 10 players and we weren’t organised. It was a well-worked goal.
“If you had asked me before the game to go to Maitland and walk away with 2-2 I would have said that was a really good result but with the game we played we are disappointed that we didn’t manage to secure the three points.
“We did the right things, we just haven’t gotten the reward for it. There was a lot of really good stuff. We are this close in every game.”
Maitland coach Joe Wright believed a point each was a fair reflection of the match.
“I think that we had good control in the game for good periods but we just lacked a bit of cutting edge,” Wright said.
“I can’t fault the girls from an effort point of view. I am confident in their ability and know that when we are behind we can continue to fight and stick to our principles which the girls did to salvage a point.
“I think a draw was probably a fair result. I don’t think we created enough clear-cut chances to win but we also didn’t do enough to lose the game.”
Maitland will serve the bye in round 12 before they travel to Darling Street Oval in round 12 to take on Newcastle Olympic.
Adamstown will be eager to go one better when they return home to Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility to face New Lambton FC on Friday night.
Broadmeadow Magic v Charlestown Azzurri
This match was postponed due to wet weather conditions.
Newcastle Olympic – Bye
