The MyState Bank Women’s Super League returned for Round 10 action and dished up two absolute drubbings and a thriller at Wentworth Park. With Launceton United off for the week, it was a chance for the chasing pack to gain some ground on the top side and they duly delivered, keeping up the pressure on the undefeated ladder leaders. Whilst Devonport and South Hobart cruised to massive victories that won’t live too long in the memory, the Clarence Zebras were made to work for a tough win over an improving Kingborough Lions outfit in an entertaining clash that was definitely the pick of the weekend action.
Zebras Hold Off Improving Lions
It was always the most likely of the weekend’s game to deliver a close game and so it came to pass as the Clarence Zebras just got the better of the Kingborough Lions 3-2 in a cracking game at Wentworth Park on Sunday. With the Zebras needing a win to keep their title hopes alive and the Lions looking to bounce back from Monday’s Cup heartbreak, both sides were tireless in their approach and the Zebras ultimately held off a strong late charge from the Lions to claim the three points.
Both sides had close moments in the early going as a free-flowing game began to develop but the woodwork would deny the Zebras the opening goal as Stalker beat the keeper but not the post on 22 minutes. Moments later and it was the Lions who instead had their noses in front as Danielle Kannegiesser reacted sharply to fire a first-time finish past Ponting following a deflected cross into the box to make it 1-0 Lions.
The Zebras thought they had levelled just five minutes later when Georgia Burt smashed one from long range that crunched into the crossbar, bounced down, hit the bar again then came back down, looking very much over the line. It was reminiscent of the famous Lampard non-goal v Germany at the 2010 World Cup with Lions keeper Olivia Gardner cast in the role of Manuel Neuer, just getting on with business and bluffing the referee expertly by playing on quickly. The Zebras argued the point, but the linesman was unmoved, and it remained 1-0 Lions.
They did draw level soon thereafter as Eliana Diafokeris continued her impressive run of form, turning home Stalker’s cross in from the right. The teams then exchanged chances to take the lead in the final 10 minutes of the half as Burt cleared one off the line at one end of the park to save the Zebras and Gardner did well to deny Diafokeris a second up at the other end.
The Zebras built up the pressure in the second half and it eventually told when Zoe Nichols did what Zoe Nichols does. She took one touch to set herself at the top of the box, before picking out the far corner to absolute perfection with a low drilled finish from her second touch to make it 2-1.
It was the Zebras best 10 minutes of the match and with their confidence growing they soon extended that lead to 3-1. Stalker joined in on the act and seemingly sealed it with a well-taken finish.
The Lions were not going to go away so easily however and Gadon’s looping first-time finish eluded Ponting and lobbed into the back of the net to make it 3-2 with 15 minutes still left to play. Three minutes later and the Lions were within a whisker of drawing level as Amy Ollington let fly with a fizzing shot from distance that rocketed into the upright and bounced wide.
It would be as close as the Lions would get, as the Zebras steadied from that moment and saw it out to seal the 3-2 win. They were unfortunate to not extend the lead in stoppage time with a premature whistle denying Zoe Nichols an advantage, one which was clearly there given she fired the ball into the back of the net a millisecond after the whistle sounded. It mattered not however, as the Zebras held on for what was an important three points from a gripping game of football.
For the Lions, it’s yet another defeat, but they do appear to have turned a corner with their strong Cup performances over the past month now leading into better showings in the league as well. Whilst they still have just the one win from seven games in the WSL, they do have 5 of their remaining 11 games coming against the bottom two sides in Taroona and Olympia. So their league record is probably a little misleading at present and if they perform as they have in the past week moving forwards, then they should be able to notch up significantly more points in the back half of the season than they have to date.
White Runs Riot Again
It was a familiar story on multiple fronts at Valley Road, as Jazmin White again ran absolute riot, scoring goals for fun, and helping pile more misery on a struggling Olympia in a thumping 12-0 win for the Devonport Strikers.
White and the Strikers have absolutely pillaged the bottom 3 over the past 3 weeks and she has now stormed six goals clear in the Golden Boot race; a race that Bonnie Davies seemingly had a commanding lead in just a month ago. Devonport have now scored 27 goals across their last 3 games and White has 17 of them! She has followed her 5-goal haul against the Lions with 6 last week against Taroona and now another 6 here against the Warriors. It’s ridiculously impressive from White but it’s also rather troubling as a metric for the wider health of the league. When there is more intrigue around whether a player will again score five goals in the game as opposed to who will win it, you’ve got some issues.
Maddy Payne also chimed in with multiple goals as she scored a well-taken hat-trick to take her season tally to 7 goals. King, Vernham and Rombouts rounded out the goal scorers for the Strikers on the day.
Cane Hits Four As South Bury Pirates
South Hobart also issued a smackdown of their own, hammering Taroona 8-0 at Darcy Street as they shone in a dominant second-half performance. With the score just 2-0 and the Pirates having come close to pulling one back in the first half action, the match appeared well poised at the break, before South put the pedal to the medal and raced away from them in a domineering second half showing.
Mia Cane had South Hobart in a strong position from the early going when she fired in a brace inside the opening quarter of an hour. It was the start of what would prove to be a day out for the speedy striker as she would end the game with four. Both first half goals came as a result of her speed allowing her to get in behind and peel off her markers before producing a nice finish. She was only denied a first-half hat-trick by Izzy Ottavi who saved strongly from the penalty spot after Davies had been scythed down in the box. Fortunately, Davies was right to continue and she made her mark on the game in the second half.
If South’s start to the first half was rapid, then their start to the second half was downright blistering, scoring four times in the opening 13 minutes.
Davies began it, scoring just after the restart with a darting near post run then adding another just moments later as she raced in behind the defence in customary fashion. She then turned provider for Mia Cane, sending in the cross for Cane to complete her hat-trick. Three goals then became four for Cane just a minute later when she was gifted a glorious one-on-one chance which she did not decline and in the blink of an eye, South Hobart had turned the 2-0 halftime lead into a 6-0 scoreline with over 30 minutes to play
An own goal from a corner made it 7-0 before Nikki Moutsatsos rounded out the scoring for the day with a perfectly placed low drive from just outside the area to make it 8-0 and seal a massive win for South Hobart. The win sees them close back within 3 points of Launceston United at the summit, albeit having played one extra game.