The Kingborough Lions overcame a plucky Ulverstone side 4-2 in a very attacking WSL affair at the Den on Saturday afternoon to jump above the northerners and into fourth spot on the table.
Both Kingborough and Ulverstone had only managed to pick up two wins out of their six and five games respectively so both teams would have looked at this fixture as a good chance to pick up all three points.
The match quickly began to reflect this as both teams pushed hard and showed some quality attacking play as they looked to break the deadlock.
Kingborough’s Samantha Watkins looked up for it early showing technical foot skills and a good change of pace to beat her markers and get in behind of Ulverstone on numerous occasions.
But in the 20th minute it would be her strike partner Laura Davis who would open the scoring in spectacular fashion, skinning two players inside the box before slotting the ball home from a tight angle.
Ulverstone didn’t have to wait long for an equaliser, scoring just a minute after going behind due to a brilliantly executed lob from range by Amy Bissett which caught Lions ‘keeper Olivia Gardner slightly off her line.
Both teams exchanged chances for the remainder of the half with Watkins coming the closest in the 41st minute when she connected sweetly with the left but Georgia Anderson in goal was equal to it making an acrobatic save to deny Watkins the goal she deserved.
The teams would head into the sheds even-stevens which was a fair reflection of how the match was playing out.
The Lions started to get on top and their shot count started to reflect their dominance, but it must have been concerning for them that they couldn’t capitalise on their chances.
Watkins went close again in the 66th minute when she turned magnificently on the edge of the box before unleashing a low-drive that just missed to the right of the goal.
Despite Watkins continual threat Kingborough coach Simon Edwards decided to substitute her for Mia Cane in a like-for-like change in the 66th minute.
Any questions about the substitution were answered two minutes later when Emilie Tatton made a sensational run cutting in from the right and squaring it to substitute Cane who made no mistake in turning it home to put the Lions ahead.
Then in the 74th minute Cane doubled Kingborough’s lead when Anderson and her defenders had a lack of communication about a stray ball which the young forward go onto before dispatching it into the net.
Ulverstone had struggled a bit in the second-half and that goal seemed like it would kill the game off, but Kingborough gifted one to the northerners in the 78th minute with a weak back-pass that allowed Jazmin White to take the ball and round the keeper before slotting it into the back of the net.
The Ulverstone girls were back into the match and it created a frantic few minutes where both sides could have scored, both Davis and White had the goal at that peril and didn’t pull the trigger.
But Davis would eventually seal the win for the Lions in the 88th minute when she was played in behind by Natalie Roubickova before slipping the ball past the keeper to put the Lions 4-2 up.
The fulltime whistle would signal the end of an entertaining affair and some really good performances from attacking players on both sides.
Simon Edwards was happy with his team’s performance against a tough opponent.
“I think the girls did well, Ulvy (Ulverstone) are always a tough gig with their pressing and their very physical game. The girls showed a real maturity to see out the game,” said the Lions coach also praised his bench.
“Mia’s got a good bit of pace up there, upfront. I think the subs today came on and did their job really well when they needed to.”
Ulverstone coach Malcolm Gorrie was visibly upset after the game, and he thought his team’s togetherness wasn’t where it needed to be.
“We probably played to many individuals today and not bonded together as a team which is what let us down more defensively,”
“Some of the decisions I’m not so keen on so we’ll review those but outside of that they deserved the win.”
The three points moved the Lions into fourth spot, two points clear of Ulverstone who have a game in hand.