Photo: Solstice Digital
Match report: Tanner Coad
Taroona defied all the odds in round 19, defeating reigning MyState Women’s Super League champions Olympia 3-1 on Sunday at Kelvedon Park and earning only their second win for the season.
Both sides would have been forgiven for playing out a stalemate, with the pitch in horrific condition from previous games, making mud and studs the themes of the day. What was looming a a dull affairs finally saw a breakthrough when Taroona’s Eli Cropp opened the scoring before half-time after running onto a great through ball. Down the wing Cropp went before getting the better of a one-on-one contest with Olympia goalkeeper Kacee Ponting, hitting into the bottom right corner with her shot for a 1-0 lead.
Cropp wasn’t finished there, and she soon latched onto a rare defensive error by Kate Ollerhead. Cropp this time put her shot into the bottom left orner for a fantastic finish to give the home side a 2-0 half-time buffer.
Olympia toiled hard through the second period, desperate to conjure up some hope. It soon arrived when playmaker Innocent Michael got onto a great through ball from Leah Gubb. Michael drove into the box and finished past Isolina Otavi to bring the game back to a one goal margin.
All hope of a Warriors comeback was extinguished, though, when Cropp finished the day by lobbing over Ponting for the final goal and a 3-1 full-time scoreline. Taroona were determined to not let their ladder position get the better of them and they were deserved winners, while Olympia struggled on the muddy Kelvedon pitch and have now played their last two games without a win.