Match of the Round
Newcastle Olympic 3-2 Adamstown Rosebud JFC
Adamstown Rosebud JFC coach Martin Slade believes his side made it unnecessarily difficult for themselves in their 3-2 defeat to Newcastle Olympic on Sunday afternoon.
The two sides were evenly matched early on, with both looking to get their seasons back on track.
But it was Olympic’s Jemma House who broke the deadlock, for the second time in as many weeks.
Sophie Walmsley played the ball to House at the top of the box, who worked her way forward before striking it past goalkeeper Olivia Sneddon and into the net in the 15th minute.
Adamstown’s Tanya Jones looked to equalise in the 28th minute after she received a well-timed ball from Sophia Laurie but pressure from Olympic’s Jess Evans saw her send it straight to goalkeeper Isabella Aquilina.
Eva Donnelly doubled Olympic’s lead in the 37th minute when she charged down the field unmarked and found Sneddon at the top of her box, whipping the ball over her shoulder into the goal.
Both sides looked to add another to the tally before half-time but Olympic went into the sheds holding on to a 2-0 lead.
House secured a brace and Olympic’s third for the evening in the 52nd minute after she weaved her way through Adamstown defence and sent the ball into the back of the net.
Adamstown clawed one back in the 74th minute when substitute Marry Ntsweng’s shot was deflected by Georgia Calculli into the path of Jones, who tapped it in.
The Buds continued to work hard to close the gap, and they got one step closer when Ash Vetter charged down the field unmarked and sliced the ball into the bottom-left corner.
Despite the Buds best efforts, they were unable to find a third goal of the evening and walked away with a 3-2 defeat.
“Once again, we made things difficult for ourselves, going three nil down, with a couple of costly errors in the first half,” Slade said.
“We left Jemma House one-on-one with a centre back, which we talked about, which didn't help and then the second goal, one of the centre backs just turned her back and didn't head the ball.
“But in the second half we came out and we showed spirit. We spoke at half-time about how we have been two nil down, one nil down to lakes, and two nil down to Charlestown, and there's a little bit of resilience in this team that they won't give up.
“We’ve just got to convert more, especially in the first 20 minutes when we're on top of games.
“They [the team] love the game, they want to play the game and they're happy to be around. They backed each other, so I can be proud of the effort, especially in the second half, but I think just overall, we have to be more clinical in moments.”
The win saw Newcastle Olympic bounce back from a 9-1 thrashing to Maitland FC in round five and coach Neil Owens was impressed by his side’s performance.
“It was a lot better, like a real team performance, so that was quite pleasing. We had a number of talks during the week just about how we have been a leader in the women's competition since it started and I think teams are always going to come here and want to knock us over, so we reinforced that this week,” Owens said.
“We just need to show up a bit more and to their credit it was good.
“The three [Jemma House, Sophie Walmsley and Sophie McDonald] of them have good leadership skills, they wear the emblem on their chest, so to speak and lead from the front and hopefully the other girls will rebound and follow that kind of lead as well.
“Some of the new girls into the club and the younger kind of girls. Their mobility was awesome and Jemma got two goals too so overall, a much, much, much better performance after copping a flogging last week.
“Sometimes you’ve got to be down the bottom of the barrel to find a bit of growth and after that Maitland game, we had a good heart to heart talk. After that game that's where a bit of real growth comes from and you ask some real questions.
“It was a really good week after a heavy loss and it just shows your true character.”
Olympic look to continue their winning ways when they take on New Lambton FC after the Easter Break, while Adamstown will face league leaders Maitland FC.
New Lambton FC 4-0 Lake Macquarie City FC
New Lambton FC coach Craig Atkins said he was thrilled his side stuck to their game plan to secure a 4-0 victory over Lake Macquarie City FC at Alder Park on Saturday night.
An end-to-end contest kicked off the match, as Lake Macquarie looked to bounce back from back-to-back losses and New Lambton hunted for top spot.
But it was the Golden Eagles that struck first after Tara Andrews received the ball on the byline and cut it back to Molly Salvador who tapped the ball into the bottom-left corner.
Lakes Emily Loader-Weston looked for an equaliser almost immediately but was denied by goalkeeper Janali Haynes.
Andrews doubled her side’s advantage in the 23rd minute when Zahna Franklin whipped a corner into the box and Andrews volleyed the ball into the goal.
New Lambton extended their lead to 3-0 in the 37th minute when Lake’s goalkeeper Morgan Ross cleared the ball straight to Andrews.
Andrews chipped Ross as she came off her line and slotted the ball into an empty net.
Lakes searched for a goal before half-time but were continually denied and sent into the sheds trailing 3-0.
The Roosters came out firing in the second stanza with Brooke Summers hunting for a goal in the 55th minute but was denied by the woodwork.
The two sides could not be separated for much of the second half, and it appeared New Lambton would be walking away with a 3-0 victory.
But Molly Salvador had other plans as she beat Lakes Caitlin McMahon in the box and weaved her way in front of the goal where she tapped it into the bottom left corner in the 88th minute to lock in the 4-0 victory.
“We went into the game with a pretty strategic plan and full credit to the girls they executed it. I thought the back four were exceptional,” Atkins said.
“It's always good when the game plans come off and full credit to the girls for scoring four goals, a clean sheet and possibly could have been a couple more goals as well.
“I said discipline and communication to the girls and that's one thing we've been working on a lot.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to play, play it simple, play it smart, but communication is something I've been working on with this team since day one. But last night you could hear it come through really well, so I'm really impressed by that.
“Lakes were going to come out and try to break us down a little bit more, but it all starts with our back four and they were really solid. Then that helped the midfield and the front there.
“We knew as soon as we got the ball in wide areas that we would be able to hurt them and the girls stuck to the game plan, got the ball wide and the scoreline showed that we were able to get that ball forward and Molly [Salvador] and Tara [Andrews] were really good up there.”
The Golden Eagles will look to continue their three-game unbeaten streak after the Easter Break when they welcome Newcastle Olympic to Alder Park. Lake Macquarie City will have the bye.
Maitland FC 4-2 Broadmeadow Magic
Maitland FC continued their dominant form despite being pushed all the way to the end in their 4-2 victory over Broadmeadow Magic at Cooks Square Park on Friday night.
Maitland seemingly controlled possession from the first whistle and used it to their advantage to take the lead just nine minutes into the match.
Sophie Stapleford launched the ball into the box and found an unmarked Georgia Amess who calmly found the back of the net.
The Magpies doubled their lead in the 14th minute when Stapleford sent the ball on the path of Natalia O’Driscoll who used her pace to beat Magic’s backline and charged into the box to send the ball into the bottom right corner.
A third for Maitland and a brace for Amess came in the 31st minute when Stapleford played the ball through to an unmarked Amess, who sidestepped goalkeeper Malli Blanch and slotted it into the net.
Magic refused to back down, clawing one back in the 36th minute when Wimberley Wright latched onto a stray Maitland pass, weaved past the defence and tapped it into the bottom left corner.
Maitland responded immediately, with Stapleford meeting an Amess cross and finishing from a tight angle to send her side into the sheds with a 4-1 lead.
Broadmeadow entered the second half stronger and continued to deny the Magpies any chance to extend their lead.
But things would become harder for Magic in the 65th minute when captain Megan Janikowski was shown a straight red card for violent conduct and coach Jason Konjarski was given his marching orders.
Despite being a player down, Magic would find the back of the net in the 77th minute as Wright charged down the field side-by-side with Maitland defence and sliced the ball past goalkeeper Annabella Thornton.
Broadmeadow fought to close the gap but would be reduced to nine players when Jessica Wallace was shown a second yellow card two minutes into stoppage time after a reckless tackle on Thornton.
Maitland aimed to capitalise on the advantage but were unable to do so as the score remained 4-2 when the final whistle blew.
The Magpies will aim to continue to build on their undefeated streak when they travel to Adamstown Oval after the Easter break to face Adamstown Rosebud JFC.
Meanwhile, Broadmeadow will look to forget about their second consecutive loss when they welcome Charlestown Azzurri to Magic Park.
Bye – Charlestown Azzurri