Avoca 3 – 1 Doyalson
Conditions could not have been better for our match of the round this week as Avoca hosted Doyalson at Fagans Park in Women’s Division One.
It was a battle for third place between these two sides as they both looked to cement themselves into the finals, but on their home ground, Avoca would keep their position on the ladder, emerging from the clash with a solid victory.
With both teams coming off mid-week losses, no one was interested in risking a mistake in the opening stages of the game. This resulted in a rather cagey affair, not helped by the fact that the ball went a long way out of play multiple times, massively hampering any flow developing for the players.
Soon enough, though, Avoca found their groove, as their smart wing play began to amp up the pressure on a Doyalson side strictly committed to counterattacking football.
The game’s first chance came when Olivia de Ville, down the left wing for Avoca, used her pace to find room for a cross. She found her striker, Belinda Dalton, just on the front post, but Dalton couldn’t hook her foot around the ball to get it on target, resulting in a goal kick.
This became a common theme for the Sharks, though, as de Ville burned the Wolves’ defence for pace multiple times throughout the first half, resulting in many chances coming down the Avoca left wing.
For this period of the game, Avoca completely controlled everything as Doyalson struggled to transition the ball into attacks, but that didn’t last forever.
In fact, the next good chance of the game did fall the way of the Wolves when Levi Cameron played in her striker Destiny Schuck behind the Avoca line. The Sharks were rapidly sprinting back to cover, so Schuck attempted a long-range chip over Jemima Moore just off her line in the Avoca goal, but it sailed over the bar, keeping the score deadlocked.
Throughout the first half, Doyalson would struggle to find chances better than that, so with enough confidence at the back, Avoca continued to look to control the game and build their attacks.
Their two central midfielders, Ella Cutcliffe and Kristen Henshaw, were instrumental in ensuring their side began to build their synergy. Each of them was tenacious in their defence and intelligent with their passes, and it often proved too much for the Wolves to answer.
As such, it was only a matter of time before the home side opened the scoring, and unfortunately for the visitors, it came from a Doyalson mistake.
Doyalson took a goal kick after a prior Avoca shot was put wide; the kick went straight into the feet of Henshaw in open space in the middle of the park just on the edge of the final third, but nobody managed to close her down as she sent a low and slightly scuffed shot towards goal. It wasn’t the cleanest strike, but it was accurate enough to sneak inside the post and evade the efforts of Tru Parker in the Doyalson gloves as it crossed the line to the right-hand side of the woodwork to make it 1-0.
This setback didn’t phase the Wolves, though as they continued to stick to their game plan, and it nearly paid dividends not long later.
During another counterattack, Schuck fought with the Avoca defence for a long ball. The ball bounced around, only getting slight contacts off their heads, allowing Schuck to ultimately win the battle, getting the ball down and earning the space to attempt another chip shot, this time just barely missing what would have been a spectacular goal.
Doyalson then looked to capitalise on this chance by shifting the momentum and holding the ball in Avoca’s half; however, the Sharks unleashed a counter of their own as a result.
Continuing to use her pace, de Ville would pounce on the ball the second the Doyalson attack broke down, seeing her charge down the left sideline and get completely in front of everyone. The only player who could keep up with her was Dalton, who received the ball more centrally in the box this time. From there, she sent it home just past a rushing Parker to make it 2-0 and send the game into halftime.
At the resumption of the half, you could tell Doyalson knew they had to force more of this game to go their way rather than waiting for Avoca’s mistakes, so that’s exactly what they did.
It was now that their own midfield pairing began to star in the game, with Ashely Sweetnam and Zoe Sawers beginning to give the Wolves some of the control for the first time.
One sign of this impact came when Sawers played through Levi Cameron down the right wing, who charged through before putting her shot wide.
Now, with added confidence, Avoca would be looking for answers, and soon, they’d be pressed for them as Doyalson snatched a goal back.
With another ball sent forward in the air for Schuck allowed to bounce, Avoca looked to tidy it up better than they did last time, but they weren’t having any luck. Schuck hassled them as the ball went closer and closer to the edge of the box. With no clearance occurring, Schuck’s forward partner, Jade Goddard, stole it and suddenly was through on goal, where she swiftly dispatched it past Moore, making it 2-1.
Here is where Avoca’s best period of the game came, as instead of panicking at the sight of the improved efforts of their opponents, they slowly and calmy retook control of the match, not allowing Doyalson to create any momentum
A large part of this was the defensive efforts of Shanay Quester, who defended well at the back for Avoca, severely limiting them from creating clear-cut chances.
As such, the next chance of the game would go to the Sharks when Henshaw robbed Parker of the ball in her own box before laying it off to Dalton, who just barely failed to get a shot off before the Wolf’s defence could clear for a corner.
Avoca would only build from here, and Doyalson would only have one more effort for the game. It came courtesy of Cameron laying the ball back to Sweetnam way outside the box. Despite the distance, she shot, and it looked destined for the top left corner, forcing Moore to make a solid save and maintain her side’s lead.
Now, with under 15 minutes remaining, Avoca would put the game away with the goal of the match, once again coming through Henshaw, the long shot specialist. With not much on offer in terms of passes forward, Henshaw took control of the ball just outside the box; with space and time, she did what I have seen her so effortlessly do many times before already, and she shot. This time, the strike was as clean as can be, sailing through the air to settle into the left-hand side of the goal and make it 3-1, completing her brace in stunning fashion.
That would be enough to see out the game for Avoca. The final score ending 3-1, keeping the home side third and making them long odds to miss the finals.
Speaking to Avoca coach Mark Beatson after the match, he noted that he mainly wanted his side to bounce back from their loss on Thursday and looked forward to repeating this fixture on Tuesday night.
“We wanted to bounce back from Thursday’s loss, so we planned to play simple football”, Beatson began.
“Doyalson’s defence was hard to break down, but the girls kept going, and we got rewarded
“It was an enjoyable game, and we get to play them again this Tuesday, so the pressure is on to keep going.”
While Doyalson coach Ryan Tanti reflected on the rough period his side is going through in this middle portion of the season, but noted his belief that his players will find their spark again.
“I thought it was a very competitive game, both teams played tough”, Tanit began.
“We seemed flat at times but also showed some nice breakaway attack at times too
“I thought we played much better in the second half with a nice goal from Jade sparking a comeback
“Bit of work to do, but I know the girls can find their spark again, and when we do, look out
“But in the end Avoca were just too good today. Well done to Mark and the Avoca team”.
Match Official – Wayne Young
Written by Mark Goodyear
Women’s Division 1 Results –
Men’s Division 1 Results –
