Ulverstone have rediscovered that winning feeling, edging out the Kingborough Lions 2-1 in their Super League clash on the Coast. Jazmin Gorrie provided a lightning fast start to the game as she fired her side into the lead after just 2 minutes, before the Lions got back on terms via an Amy Ollington goal. Ulverstone reclaimed the lead via Danielle Mitchell just past the hour mark though, and were able to see things out from there, to claim their first points of the season.
Neither side hesitated from the kick off with a darting run by Bissett up one end, followed by Davis finding the room to dribble the ball forward and pull off a shot down the other. However it was Jazmin Gorrie who made it all count barely two minutes into the game, finishing one of the early chances. Her side working the quick transition, Gorrie found some, took the shot on early and it took a deflection from a Lion’s centre back, wrong footing Gardner, as the ball bounced into the back of net.
With the confidence of the early goal, Ulverstone continued to look threatening up front with their pace in the final third, while remaining confident and tight in the back with their ever shifting back line of three to four players. Meanwhile the Lions struggled to look anything other than scrappy for the following twenty minutes, often relying on the long ball over the top. Once the away side could settle on the ball and find those quick combinations to players feet in the midfield, they looked like a team capable of fighting back during the back end of the half.
The high lines of defence from both sides left the match feeling compact, as if it were a game of tennis with how the ball was cleared from one defence to the other. The temperature of the match was hot, as heavy challenges flew in, leaving no chance of winning the ball for anyone going in half hearted.
It was Kingborough who finally struck back in the second half, finding a goal in the 49th minute. Having got in behind the defence, the Lions crafted an excellent initial chance forcing an athletic save from Anderson. Ollington was lurking at the far post and tidied the chance up by slotting it into the open net, bagging her first WSL goal in the process.
The intensity rose from here. Davis and Gorrie continued to dazzle on the ball for their respective sides, while each set of centre back pairings continued to come up with the big last ditch challenges required to protect their goal. Further credit needs to goes to the goalkeepers, who both were pretending their goal line was lava with how far they were often stationed away from it. That tactic was often working for them, allowing them to clean up, when the ball was launched forward into the no mans land behind their defensive lines.
A draw seemed inevitable at one point, however Ulverstone had one more card to draw on. They pushed Foote further up the park. It proved an inspired move and needed all of fifteen minutes to find a winner out of it. After Foote attacked down the left flank with the ball at her feet, she passed it off to Gorrie in the box. With both players having the shadows of Lions’ defenders lurking, Gorrie did the smart thing. She switched it to her free player on the right in Danielle Mitchell, and Mitchell made no mistake in putting her side ahead.
The Lions searched for a reply, however one just wasn't coming. The last opportunity of the match represents how the final twenty minutes went for them. All the hard work of creating the opportunity was done, Davis laid it off to Ollington, who with space and time, blazed the shot well over the net. Instead it was Ulverstone who remained steady, protecting their lead and grinding out the result in the end.