Match of the Round
Newcastle Olympic 1-1 Charlestown Azzurri
Charlestown Azzurri coach Heath Whyte admits his side’s first half performance was flat in their 1-1 draw with Newcastle Olympic at Darling Street Oval on Sunday afternoon.
Olympic came out of the gates firing as they looked to defeat Charlestown for the first time this season.
They looked to open the scoring in the fourth minute as Jemma House attempted to tap the ball into the goal off a deflected header, but Azzurri’s Chloe Martin cleared the ball away.
Olympics’ Elodie Dagg pushed again in the eighth minute but instead hit the crossbar after she launched the ball from the top of the box.
Azzurri’s Melina Ayres unleashed her first attempt of the afternoon in the 13th minute but narrowly missed the goal.
The deadlock appeared to have finally been broken in the 36th minute when Olympics’ Kiera Bainsfair hit the ball with her hip towards the goal, but Martin denied them the opportunity once again.
The two sides could not be separated and went into half-time locked up 0-0.
Azzurri looked to rectify their lack of possession in the first half and entered the second half determined for a goal.
Half-time substitute for Azzurri, Madi Gallegos, came out firing as she shot the ball towards the goal moments into the second half, forcing Olympics’ goalkeeper Janali Haynes to stretch and hit the ball away.
Ayres continued to search for the first goal of the afternoon when she launched the ball from outside the box in the 55th minute but hit the corner of the crossbar.
Olympics’ Maddy Howard finally broke the deadlock in the 74th minute.
Jemma House sent the ball from halfway onto the run of Howard, who half-volleyed the ball from the top of the box, chipping Azzurri’s goalkeeper Danielle Bartels and into the back of the net.
The game intensified as both teams searched for all three points, and it appeared Olympic would be walking away with the win until the 88th minute.
Olympics’ Amelie Hingston pushed Ayres in the back, sending her to the ground just in front of the goal and awarding Azzurri a penalty.
Ayres stepped up to the penalty spot and wasted no time to slot the ball into the goal, equalising moments before injury time.
Despite persistent efforts from both sides in the final minutes, they could not be separated and walked away with a 1-1 draw.
“I’m encouraged about our fight back, our second half was a lot better,” Whyte said.
“We made some changes, not that I think they were completely necessary. It was pretty even; we just weren’t getting our combinations together.
“It was more about just trying to change things up than anything else. Maddi Gallegos and Khyra Dickey came on near the midfield and I thought they were both good.
“We created plenty of chances in that second half. I think we would have at least had five decent chances that we created from structured buildup. They had one and scored it, so that’s football.
“The girls know how I want them to play and know the strategy. That first half by their own admission, it was just flat.
“Some days you just haven’t got it together collectively as a squad and we talked about that at half-time, very open about it and I thought we got the appropriate reaction in the second half.”
The 1-1 draw was the best result Olympic have had with Charlestown the entire season and coach Craig Atkins said his side will take a lot of confidence away from the match.
“We’re very confident after that result. We had a game plan, and we put it to Azzurri,” Atkins said.
“We were probably unlucky not to get a goal or two in that first half, our first half was really good. Second half, they came out, we knew they would and put us under the pump there but again we worked hard together, the fight was back.
“Unlucky I guess at the end there, but that’s football. But it’s a really positive result moving forward for us.
“We had to change a few things against them because things hadn’t been working, and we did.
“I thought the girl’s executed really well, especially in that first half and even in the second half when we were under the pump that’s going to happen to any side.
“We had a few good chances there in the second half as well. But overall, it was a great performance and I’m very proud of everyone.”
The draw saw Charlestown remain in second on the table and they will continue to push for the premiership when they travel to Adamstown Oval to face Adamstown Rosebud JFC after the break.
Olympic will look to continue their four-game unbeaten streak when they host Maitland FC at Darling Street Oval in round 20.
New Lambton FC 4-0 Adamstown Rosebud JFC
Adamstown Rosebud JFC coach Martin Slade believes not taking advantage of chances was the difference when they were down 4-0 by New Lambton FC at Alder Park on Saturday afternoon.
Adamstown’s Marion Dunbabin pushed to open the scoring in the 12th minute as she charged into the box but was denied by Isabella White when she tapped the ball over her head and picked up the scraps.
An end-to-end contest entailed as both sides looked to break the deadlock, and it was New Lambton who broke first.
Tara Andrews tapped the ball to the feet of Cass Davis, who wasted no time to half-volley the ball from outside the box over Adamstown goalkeeper Olivia Sneddon and into the back of the net in the 32nd minute.
The Golden Eagle’s lead was doubled in the 34th minute after Brianna Trappett launched the ball into the box and pressure from Andrews forced Adamstown’s Sophie Cook to head the ball into her own net.
The Buds pushed to claw one back before half-time but remained 2-0 down as they went into the sheds.
Adamstown entered the second half firing as they searched to close the gap between themselves and New Lambton.
But that became harder when the Golden Eagles netted their third of the afternoon in the 63rd minute.
Davis ran onto a miscalculated pass by Cook, slicing it to Andrews as she ran into the box and slotted it into the back of the net.
Andrews netted her second goal of the afternoon when she charged down the left of the park, beating Adamstown’s Jenna Doyle and launching the ball to the right of the goal in the 71st minute.
The two sides pushed to add to the scoreboard for the remainder of the match, but the score remained 4-0 when the final whistle blew.
“I thought for the first 25 minutes, we created a couple of opportunities that we didn’t take and then two clearances and Cass [Davis] scored a great half-volley over the top of Liv [Sneddon],” Slade said.
“But we just didn’t apply pressure on the ball, and we didn’t clear the ball.
“We didn’t take our chances when we were on top and key players for them just made a difference in moments.
“Ultimately, losing 4-0, a lot of people won’t look at our defence. Yeah, we did well for the first 32 minutes but we had a couple of moments where we switched off and we got punished.
“I thought we held our own in the first half an hour but fell short.”
Adamstown will look to bounce back when they host Charlestown Azzurri in round 20 after the break.
New Lambton will look to continue to build their momentum ahead of finals when they go head-to-head with Broadmeadow Magic after the break.
Broadmeadow Magic 0-6 Lake Macquarie City FC
Lake Macquarie City FC downed Broadmeadow Magic for the second time this season when they were victorious 6-0 at Magic Park on Friday night.
Broadmeadow’s Tori Johnson looked to open the scoring in the fifth minute when she found the ball in the box but was blocked by Lake Macquarie City’s goalkeeper Morgan Ross.
Lakes netted their first of the night in the 10th minute after Milan Hammond sliced the ball to Lara Gooch at the top of the box, who wasted no time to slot it into the bottom left of the net.
Gooch doubled her side's lead two minutes later as she charged into the box, beating her defenders and looked to find the back of the net but Magic’s goalkeeper Ayano Kurosawa dove and got a hand on the ball. Gooch picked up the scrapes and tapped the ball into an empty net.
Magic’s Larrisa Ryan looked to lessen the deficit for her side in the 18th minute as she manoeuvred her way through Lakes defence but was denied by Ross as she tapped the ball over the crossbar.
The Rooster’s lead was extended to three in the 24th minute after Ani Jensen curled the ball into the box from a free kick and Magic’s Emily Wicks found the back of her own net.
The final goal of the first half was netted in the 34th minute after Brooke Summers was denied by Kurosawa and kicked the ball onto the run of Jensen, who tapped the ball into an empty net.
Lakes went into half-time leading 4-0 but were not done yet.
Magic’s defence continued to deny the Roosters for the first 25 minutes of the second half, but Lakes Indianna Auddino proved to put a stop to their backline.
Substituted into the match in the 72nd minute, Auddino found the scraps of a Summer’s pass in front of the goal and netted her side’s fifth goal of the evening in the 73rd minute.
The final goal of the evening came two minutes into injury time after Jensen unleashed the ball outside the box, over a sea of players and into the back of the net, locking in her side’s 6-0 victory.
Lake Macquarie City will now have two weeks off with a break next weekend and serving the bye in round 20.
Magic will look to regroup and end their season on a high when they travel to Alder Park to face New Lambton FC in round 20.
Maitland FC - Bye
