The Olympia F.C Warriors claimed a 1-0 win in their Women's Super League clash at Warrior Park on Sunday, but they were made to sweat it out as South Hobart came close to equalising on multiple occasions in an entertaining second half.
An early penalty won by Olivia Bomford and converted by Bonnie Davies seemingly had the Warriors well on the way to victory as they dominated the first 45 minutes and looked like adding to their lead. But South fought back after the break, hitting the crossbar and having another ruled out by the referee in what proved an intriguing second half battle.
It didn't take long for Olympia to hit the lead and they did the bulk of the early attacking throughout the first 10 minutes of play. The breakthrough came when Olivia Bomford spied a gap between the two centre backs, flicked the ball past them and tried to skip into the box but was brought tumbling down by Eleni Moutsatsos giving the referee no choice but to point straight to the spot.
Up stepped Bonnie Davies who dispatched it into the bottom right hand corner of the goals to give the Warriors the early lead.
It seemed only a matter of time until they would find a second and Inocent Michael came close with a mazy run from the left that took her past two markers, but she was shut down by a sliding Mcmullen in net for South.
Bomford was running the show in midfield and she forged a chance that should've made it 2-0 when she glided past two defenders and put one on a platter for Davies who had a wide open net to hit with the keeper trapped at the near post, but she misfired her shot straight back at the keeper and it somehow remained 1-0.
Olympia continued to get shots away throughout the first half, but were struggling to keep them on target blazing shots from range over the bar on multiple occasions, whilst Black couldn't keep a good headed chance down from a corner.
The game then completely changed in the second half as South grew into the contest and started to work some nice passing combinations through the midfield. Olympia still well on top in and had more of the ball, but South were noticeably looking a lot more comfortable out there and were defending well.
Having had just the one stop to make in the first half, Warriors skipper Jenna Farrow was starting to be called upon in net and she stood up strong to deny Choi who looked to pounce on a ball in the area.
Having been subbed into the game, Misty Olsen was starting to make things happen in midfield and a cheeky effort almost had her side level, but Farrow was correctly adjudged to have picked the ball up before it was toed out of her hands by the American.
Olsen then let fly with a howitzer of a shot from 25 yards out that rocketed into the bar and bounced straight down, but it stayed out and Farrow was able to see off Choi's acrobatic follow up effort.
Feeling the pressure Olympia looked to find a second goal and nearly found one when Mia Cane took off on a powerful run down the left before firing just wide in what would have been a wonderful solo goal.
Madi Chambers was also introduced in the second half and whilst not quite at her sharpest as she makes the return from injury, she caused some headaches with her movement.
It was South who looked the more likely side to score though and again Farrow had to be sharp to shut down a Ruby Batcherlor effort at her near post, steering it behind for a corner.
Ultimately the second goal of the game never came for either side and Olympia held on for a 1-0 win in what was truly a game of two halves.
The Warriors now turn their attention to the Kingborough Lions who they will meet in Round 2 action at Lightwood Park, whilst South Hobart face the daunting task of hosting the Clarence Zebras at Darcy Street.
https://youtu.be/5AHyHaF2FRM
The game then completely changed in the second half as South grew into the contest and started to work some nice passing combinations through the midfield. Olympia still well on top in and had more of the ball, but South were noticeably looking a lot more comfortable out there and were defending well.
Having had just the one stop to make in the first half, Warriors skipper Jenna Farrow was starting to be called upon in net and she stood up strong to deny Choi who looked to pounce on a ball in the area.
Having been subbed into the game, Misty Olsen was starting to make things happen in midfield and a cheeky effort almost had her side level, but Farrow was correctly adjudged to have picked the ball up before it was toed out of her hands by the American.
Olsen then let fly with a howitzer of a shot from 25 yards out that rocketed into the bar and bounced straight down, but it stayed out and Farrow was able to see off Choi's acrobatic follow up effort.
Feeling the pressure Olympia looked to find a second goal and nearly found one when Mia Cane took off on a powerful run down the left before firing just wide in what would have been a wonderful solo goal.
Madi Chambers was also introduced in the second half and whilst not quite at her sharpest as she makes the return from injury, she caused some headaches with her movement.
It was South who looked the more likely side to score though and again Farrow had to be sharp to shut down a Ruby Batcherlor effort at her near post, steering it behind for a corner.
Ultimately the second goal of the game never came for either side and Olympia held on for a 1-0 win in what was truly a game of two halves.
The Warriors now turn their attention to the Kingborough Lions who they will meet in Round 2 action at Lightwood Park, whilst South Hobart face the daunting task of hosting the Clarence Zebras at Darcy Street.
https://youtu.be/5AHyHaF2FRM