Women’s Super League Weekend Wash-Up
The MyState Bank Women’s Super League has made its long-awaited return with an entertaining opening weekend of fixtures produced. The top players in the state were eager to leave their mark on the new season and make an early statement, with some fine individual displays standing out. Whilst it’s never wise to overreact or make too many snap judgements from just one weekend’s worth of results, it’s fair to say there was plenty to take away from this opening set of fixtures.
The defending champions Launceston United looked every bit as sharp as they did throughout the 2022 season, storming to a 5-0 win over Taroona FC. Whilst they have lost some firepower from last year, they’ve still no shortage of it with Dani Gunton leading the line to score three times and new import Courtney Marten looking a very lively player. The Strikers fell behind early but did just enough to walk away with all three points against the Zebras, as Jazmin White’s raw pace proved the difference once again. Then on Sunday the Lions fought doggedly and almost upset a South Hobart side who dominated general play but struggled to find a way past a rock solid Erika MacKintosh before Brigette Wright eventually conjured the match winner.
It was an interesting first up set of games, let’s dive into them in a little more detail.
Strikers Overcome Zebras
The Devonport Strikers recovered from an early deficit and claimed a 2-1 win over the Clarence Zebras to begin their title bid with three valuable points. It was a game that easily could have gone either way, with both sides having their chances throughout the 90 minutes, though on balance of play the Strikers were worthy winners.
The Zebras took the lead on 18 minutes when Hayley Julian parried a Stalker cross back into the feet of Millie Baric. Baric cut it back to Bronte Gadon whose first shot was brilliantly blocked by Emily Smith, but Gadon made no mistake at the second time of asking, driving home the follow up.
But the Strikers were handed a lifeline just five minutes later when Jazmin White won a penalty after being adjudged to have been fouled by Sarah Bolonja in the penalty area, with White making no mistake and squaring things up.
White then turned provider for the go-ahead goal which would prove the match winner. Showing her blistering pace, White carried the ball all the way from her own half deep into the Zebras box, before cutting it back to put one on a platter for Nikita Boyd to tap home.
That made it 2-1 early in the second half and it was how the score would remain despite more chances flowing in the second half, with the Strikers passing up multiple opportunities to make sure of the victory by extending their lead. It wouldn’t matter though, as they kept the Zebras out at the other end and secured a valuable first up victory.
Considering the Zebras had the Summer Cup as a lead in and the Strikers just friendlies, the opening round was always going to be a tough assignment for the hosts. To take three points was all that mattered and it gets their potential title bid off to a strong start. The expectations are high around this Strikers playing group and at times in this one they showed why, getting some nice passing combinations going. The Zebras put in a commendable effort on the road here and they showed that despite blooding plenty of youth this year, that doesn’t mean they won’t still be competing with the best sides.
Gunton Treble Starts United Title Defence
Launceston United picked up where they left off in 2022, claiming a thumping 5-0 win over Taroona at Kelvedon Park. Dani Gunton did the bulk of the damage, scoring a hat-trick, whilst new American import Courtney Marten shone on her debut, opening the scoring and setting up another.
There is no doubt that the departures of Ellie La Monte and Alexis Mitchell left a large hole in United's attack that needed to be filled, but in Marten they seem to have found themselves a more than handy replacement. She opened the scoring 17 minutes into the match with a drilled finish after being played in by a defence splitting ball from Madeline Lohse.
Gunton’s first goal of the day was clever stuff, catching Ottavi off her line after the ball was turned over playing out from the back. Gunton took full advantage producing an inch perfect lob from 25 yards out to nestle the ball in the back of the net and make it 2-0 after half an hour.
Taroona were under frequent pressure at the back in this one, but managed to limit the damage and kept the score at 2-0, with Maeve Dunbabin impressing as the siege continued.
But just past the hour mark the dam wall burst and United promptly scored three more times in a devastating 15 minute burst to make the scoreline more emphatic.
Gunton set up her sides third goal with a well-placed cross finding Lucy Smith in the penalty area to tap home before doing it herself for goals 4 and 5.
Lohse paved a second assist of the contest with a powerful run down the left before finding Gunton, whose first time finish perfectly picked out the bottom corner to make it 4-0. She then completed her hat-trick and the 5-0 thumping win by making it 2 goals in a minute when she finished off a fine through ball from Marten moments later.
It saw the game ending 5-0 which was a pretty fair reflection on the contest. Bigger tests await the defending Champions, but they did what they needed to do here and got their title defence off to the ideal start.
South Eventually Find the Wright Stuff
They were made to work hard for it and made things tougher than they probably should’ve been but eventually South Hobart overcame the Kingborough Lions to claim a 1-0 win in their season opening clash at Darcy Street.
South controlled much of the play and spent large swathes of the afternoon probing around the Lions penalty area, but just struggled to land the killer blow, so often just under hitting a final pass and lacking the cutting edge required.
The first genuine chance of the afternoon fell to the Lions and it was probably their best look at goal for the match. Samantha Butler came up with a spectacular save to deny Kannegiesser, diving to keep it out with the right glove.
Then it was another goalkeeper’s opportunity to shine, with Erika Mackintosh producing an accomplished performance in the Lions net to give her side every chance of taking something from the game. She was fantastic in this match and made some crucial stops to maintain the stalemate.
It took till the 72nd minute but finally South Hobart had a goal to show for it, and it took a defender to find it. Brigette Wright had been increasingly appearing in advanced areas and she produced the finish after Swain’s mazy run to finally unlock the Lions and put South a goal to the good.
Whilst the game had just the lone goal, that didn’t mean that South’s attackers were poor by any means. The role of the striker has changed a lot in modern football. Whereas once they might’ve been there to sit up top and simply finish, these days they can often be one the most important pieces of the defensive puzzle, by leading the press. Perhaps nobody typified that more than South’s Josie Mamic whose furious defensive work rate really stood out. She was frenetic throughout this one, chasing, harrying and keeping the Lions defence on their toes, forcing multiple turnovers. It’s the type of performance coaches love and will undoubtedly have pleased Doug Ollington, as will the three points his side picked up to begin what South hopes will be a season that ends hoisting a trophy.
Round 1
Devonport Strikers 2 (Jazmin White 23’, Nikita Boyd 48’)
Clarence Zebras 1 (Bronte Gadon 18’)
Taroona FC 0
Launceston United 5 (Courtney Marten 18’ Danielle Gunton 31’ 75’ 77’, Lucy Smith 63’)
South Hobart 1 (Brigette Wright 72’)
Kingborough Lions 0