MATCH OF THE ROUND
Terrigal 4 – Wyong 0
Terrigal maintains 3rd place on the ladder after another dominant performance saw the O’lasses pick up a 4-0 win in the Round 7 WPL Match of the Round.
The first 45 minutes between Terrigal and Wyong was a very even contest with both sides providing challenges to their opposition. Jordyn Toms-Wedge would get her first goal of the day, opening the scoring for Terrigal on the 16th minute after a great build-up sequence saw the O’lasses take an early 1-0 lead. Wyong looked to find an equaliser but could not get past the Terrigal defence who boast the league’s 2nd least number of goals conceded so far in the competition. Terrigal were unlucky themselves not to double the scoreline before the break but eventually, the whistle sounded, and Terrigal carried their 1-0 lead into half-time.
The second half of the contest saw a very different game, with Terrigal making some tactical changes at halftime and were able to dominate Wyong in the second 45 minutes of action. A wonderful header from a set-piece by Sophie Piltz just after halftime double her teams lead to 2-0. 20 minutes into the second half, Jordyn Toms-Wedge was once again able to find herself on the end of great build-up play as she slotted home her second of the day. Jordyn would eventually get her hattrick with only minutes remaining to take the scoreline to 4-0, after a very dominant second-half display from Terrigal pick up their 4th clean sheet of the year as they remain in 3rd place.
“The 1-0 scoreline at halftime showed a very even contest, Terrigal dominated in the second half and the scoreline reflected that. I’m confident the girls can bounce back next week with a better performance,” commented Wyong coach Paul Halton when reflecting on Sunday’s clash.
East Gosford 1 – Kariong 0
East Gosford retains their finals spot, jumping back into the 4th spot after a 1-0 win over Kariong.
After a disappointing result last week against Killarney, East Gosford knew how important the 3 points were this weekend against an improving Kariong side. East Gosford knew they had to start well and more importantly for the Rams, trying to get some confidence back and play their controlled passing game and style of play. East Gosford took an early lead through attacker Annika Hansen who finished well for the Rams. East Gosford front 4 in Hayley Blunden, Annika Hansen, Karen Doutty, and Isabella Tranmer looked dangerous in attack but the high defence line of Kariong was able to keep them at bay, catching the Rams off-side 9 times in the first half. The score remained 1-0 heading into halftime.
After a much-needed half-time team talk, both teams came out of the break strong with a much more organised game strategy. Both sides put forward great attack and even better defence. With 5 first graders still on the sideline, another reshuffle in formation and personnel was the story of the day from Rams’ coach Jorge Chavez but to his side credit, they played some amazing football and created multiple scoring opportunities with Darcy McNaughton and Karen Doutty connecting well on the right-hand side all day. The game was played end-to-end with neither team managing to score that elusive second goal, leaving the final result 1-0 to East Gosford.
Kariong coach Haylie Eyers was pleased with her side’s performance after full-time. “I was happy with how the girls played on the weekend, they did well as a team to shut down attacking plays from East Gosford. With a full squad, we would have absolutely had a chance at scoring and possible winning against the Rams.”
East Gosford’s Jorge Chavez is now looking onto next week’s difficult challenge against Kanwal. “With a few key players coming back next week, we are confident we can walk away with some points next week against a very talented Kanwal squad.”
Kanwal 0 – Killarney 1
Kanwal could not back up last week’s stellar performance as they saw their 3rd defeat of the year at the hands of Adam Tait’s Killarney side.
It was a very balanced first half between both sides, Kanwal displayed some great passing through their defence and midfield to create multiple scoring opportunities within the first half, both Hayls Ballard and Jennifer Reeves each having missed one on one chances that could have given Kanwal a 2-0 lead. Killarney’s defence was put under a lot of pressure, but they held strong to keep the game locked a 0-0. Casey Cooper served up many pinpoint crosses for Kanwal’s front third to capitalise on, but the Bulls were unable to find the back of the net. Killarney looked threatening on the counterattack as they also had some chances to take the lead but failed to score when any opportunity at goal presented itself, the score remained 0-0 after the opening 45 minutes of play.
The second half saw both teams come out strong once again, though it was Kanwal who continued to dominate the majority of possession and push for the opening goal. Killarney stepped up their intensity and Kanwal were late to respond to a counterattack as Killarney’s Yasemin Lawson went through on goal, Kanwal defender Courtney Smith was able to chase down Yasemin with Bulls goalkeeper Adina Hawkins also coming out to clear the ball, unfortunately, the clearance ricocheted off one of Kanwal’s own as Yasmin was able to pounce on the opportunity presented from the Kanwal mistake and put the ball into the net for the game’s only goal. Kanwal fought hard and pushed players on as they searched for an equalising goal but with 10 minutes left the game was cut short as a Killarney player went to the ground with a neck injury which resulted in an ambulance being called. Both teams stayed around until the ambulance left and showed great sportsmanship to form a guard of honour.
“We were aiming for four solid performances in a row this week and Jen Tatum and I think we played well enough to walk away with 3 points on Sunday, but at the end of the day we didn’t take our chances when we should have,” stated Kanwal’s Hayls Ballard post-match.
Woongarrah 0 – Umina 4
Umina picked themselves back up after last week’s loss with a very dominant performance away from home over last-place Woongarrah
Woongarrah knew they had a tough game on their hands come round 7 as they looked to sit deep early on and play direct when winning the ball against Umina. The first 30 minutes looked very promising for the Wildcats as they held out the Umina attack to only two shots on target. Umina found their style of play very frustrating as they started to think it may be another game where they couldn’t close out, but they eventually found the opening goal after a well-worked move down the middle, with a slick pass from Kate Styles put Hayley Fullwood one-on-one as she casually beat the Woongarrah keeper with a shot in the bottom corner. Umina doubled their lead just seconds before halftime with a similar play down the middle, this time Gemma Crowson was the creator for Kate Styles who turned finisher to give her side a little bit of breathing room heading into the break despite being frustrated by a missed chances and tough defence of Woongarrah.
The second half was a noticeably closer game, with both teams testing the opposition’s goalkeepers and their shot-stopping abilities. However, fatigue began to set in for Woongarrah and Umina capitalized with their 3rd goal thanks to 2021 WPL leading goal scorer Kate Styles who grabbed her second of the game. To Woongarrah’s credit, their players never gave up and continued to press across the park. Gemma Crowson rounded out the win for the E-Gals as she scored the 4th and final goal of the game.
“Umina are a quality team across the park and to hold them to only 4 goals is a respectable result for our young developing team. Consistency during the game is a task that we are improving on and endeavouring to achieve during this season. As with previous games, we created a few scoring opportunities, unfortunately, we were not able to convert any of these chances,” said Woongarrah’s Dave Hurley.
Umina’s Steve Donaldson states his team still has a lot of improving to do despite the comfortable win. “A comfortable win yet at the same time a troubling win as I feel we’re still nowhere near at our best football as we are hardly finishing off a quarter of our chances, and that’s even with the top goal scorer in the comp, also the number of goals we have scored as a team says a lot of the expectations and potential we have. Cheers to Woongarrah though who had their plan and stuck to it and really frustrated us for large parts of the game.”
Southern & Ettalong 0 – Gosford 4
Gosford picks up their incredible 6th clean sheet in a row during their 4-0 win over Southern & Ettalong at James Browne Oval in round 7.
It was another strong Gosford performance as they controlled the majority of the game from start to finish as Southern & Ettalong struggled in transition from defence to attack.
Gosford looked to keep the ball and execute quick short passing although they found this difficult on a very bouncy and tight pitch. Southern concentrated on keeping a very tight and condensed defence by limiting any space in their half of the field which made it very hard for Gosford to find success going forward. Gosford struggled in finding combinations in key moments, but their first goal of the match settled any nerves and pressure. A fantastic team goal with Gosford’s two fullbacks combining with a great cross from Brittni Nicol to find Abbie Kitchener on the back post who finished well to open the scoring. Just before halftime, Southern seemed to run out of a bit of steam and Gosford were able to score two quick goals through Maddie Yates and Tahlor Thackray in a similar style, the Dragons enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 lead at halftime.
Gosford started the second half strong once again, but credit must go to Southern & Ettalong who come out of the break and played extremely well limiting mistakes that cost them dearly in the first half, Southern continued to work hard off the ball and limit any space one again. Gosford only found one more clear chance in which Brittni Nicol was able to finish the game off after eventually getting in behind the SEU defence to give Gosford their fourth and final goal of the game.
“As always a lot of credit must be given to Southern & Ettalong who constantly pressed and worked hard off the ball. A game which we controlled the tricky pitch, windy and cold weather really well, and came away with another clean sheet,” expressed Dragon’s coach Pete Edwards when reflecting on the game.
WPL Leading Goal Scorers –
| 13 | Kate Styles (Umina) |
| 10 | Taylor Thackray (Gosford), Madelene Yates (Gosford) |
| 5 | Hannah Batten (Umina), Piper Menteith (Wyong), Jordyn Toms-Wedge (Terrigal) |
| 4 | Jessica Dominello (Gosford), Hayls Ballard (Kanwal), Tatum Ansiewicz (Southern), Hayley Fullwood (Umina) |
WPL Round 7 Reserve Grade Results –
WPL Points Table –
WPL Club Championship –
WPL Round 8 Fixtures –
Written by Adam Blunden.