Match of the Round
Maitland FC 0-1 Charlestown Azzurri
Charlestown Azzurri coach Heath Whyte believes their heart secured them the premiership when they defeated Maitland FC 1-0 at Cooks Square Park on Sunday afternoon.
Concern was high for Azzurri at the start of the match when goalkeeper Danielle Bartels went down with an ankle injury after a contest with Maitland’s Georgia Amess, but Bartels remained on the field.
Azzurri looked to open the scoring in the 19th minute when Kalista Hunter launched the ball down the pitch as Chelsea Lucas pounced onto the end before crossing to Madi Gallegos, but Maitland’s Willow Neal put a stop to it.
Injury concerns grew for the Blues when Hunter went up for a header off a corner and rolled her ankle as she landed. She was then carried off the field where she remained for the rest of the match.
The physical end-to-end contest continued as the two sides could not be separated as they went into half-time locked up 0-0.
The Blues came out of the gates firing in the second stanza when Gallegos immediately launched the ball towards the goal but narrowly missed.
Maitland continued to push to open the scoring, but Gema Simon made them wait longer after she cleared the ball with a clean tackle on Sophie Stapleford in the 56th minute.
The Magpies Sophie Nenadovic launched the ball from outside the box in the 60th minute and forced Bartels to tap the ball over the crossbar.
Lucas pushed to net the first goal in the 66th minute as she pounced onto the ball inside the box but was denied by Maitland’s goalkeeper Annabella Thornton.
As 15 minutes remained, and a premiership was on the line, both sides pushed to take the lead and the moment looked to come for Maitland as a scramble in front of the goal entailed.
But determined defence by the Blues managed to clear the ball away from the scrap inside the box.
The moment the Azzurri fans had been waiting for also appeared to happen in the 79th minute after Neal cleared the ball to the feet of Lucas who passed to Sienna Fraser-Kelly in front of goal.
Fraser-Kelly attempted to find the back of the net, but Maitland’s Tahlia Gossner deflected the ball off her shoulder and over the goal.
It appeared that the two sides would remain locked up 0-0, but an 88th-minute goal for Charlestown was enough to separate the sides.
In a last-stitch effort to take the lead, Azzurri’s Alyssa Togo-Paragalli launched the ball from the corner over a sea of players where she found Gallegos.
Gallegos headed the ball into the back of the net. Neal attempted to clear the ball, but it had already crossed the goal line.
The one goal proved to be enough to extend Charlestown’s unbeaten streak to 12 matches and secure the premiership.
“I’m feeling pretty good right now. I'm not sure that its sunk in, but we had a goal to play good football which I think both teams did,” Whyte said.
“It was a pretty hard-fought game. Both teams had their opportunities, and the match ebbed and flowed.
“We played first with the head, then with the heart. I think the heart got us home.
“I believed it in February. I believe it in September, too.”
Despite the early injuries, Whyte was confident that his side could secure the victory.
“All of the girls were really on the same page. We had a strategy, and everyone was clear about it from the starting 11 to those who were fresh on the bench,” Whyte said.
“It wasn't ideal, but we were able to adjust. You got the experience of Gema Simon who can adjust straight into Kal's [Kalista Hunter] role and Danielle's a warrior, so she said, ‘just strap me up I'm fine’.
Azzurri will now look ahead to next weekend where they will face Maitland in the major semi-final.
“The girls are obviously stoked about that (the premiership), and I'm really happy for them but finals football is a different beast,” Whyte said.
“The Maitland girls are a very resilient, tough side as well. They'll regroup this week, and we'll regroup by just doing an injury assessment by Tuesday to see where we're at.
“We'll then be preparing for whatever day we play on the weekend.”
Maitland’s coach, Joe Wright, was heartbroken for his side to narrowly miss out on the premiership despite their strong performance.
“I’m obviously gutted for the girls that they weren't able to get the premiership, which is a big one for us. So yeah, just gutted,” Wright said.
“I think it's shown all year that in the second half, the girls are a strong second half team. It was just business as usual.
“They did really well to create some really good opportunities, and unfortunately, just couldn't convert tonight.
“We will take it one day at a time and get back into training. I was happy with the way that the girls played.
“I think we can take some real positives out of the way that we played this week.”
Lake Macquarie City FC 5-1 Adamstown Rosebud JFC
Lake Macquarie City FC finished fifth in their inaugural season after they downed Adamstown Rosebud JFC 5-1 at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Sunday afternoon.
Lake Macquarie opened the scoring after Brooke Summers rounded Adamstown’s Tanya Jones and launched the ball towards the net, chipping goalkeeper Olivia Sneddon and into the goal.
Adamstown equalised in the 33rd minute after Lakes Emily Loader-Weston brought down Sophia Laurie inside the box. Skipper Jenna Doyle stepped up to the spot and calmly converted the goal.
The two sides could not be separated as they went into half-time all locked up 1-1.
Lakes netted their second of the day after Ani Jensen sliced the ball in front of four Adamstown defenders and Summers finished it off after she tapped the ball into the back of the net in the 68th minute.
Summers locked in her hat-trick in the 76th minute after she got on the end of a Milan Hammond ball, beat Jones in the box and hit the bottom right corner.
The Roosters further extended their lead after Indianna Auddino got on the end of a Jensen corner and beat Laurie right in front of the goal before she tapped it into the back of the net in the 82nd minute.
The final nail was put into the coffin when Jensen got her own goal of the day in the 85th minute after a misplaced pass from Laurie made its way to her feet and she slotted it into the goal.
The 5-1 victory secured Lakes fifth position in their inaugural season and missed out on finals by nine points.
Adamstown finished their campaign sixth on the table, 12 points outside the top four.
Newcastle Olympic v New Lambton FC
This match was postponed due to wet weather conditions and will be played at 6pm at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Tuesday 19th August.
Broadmeadow Magic - Bye
