Women's NSL - Season 2003/2004

Women's National Soccer League

Supplied by AWSA and transcribed by Thomas Esamie

Home Team v Away Team

Round One (played October 17 & 19)

Venue : Serbian Sports Centre, Melbourne

Victoria Vision
Barbieri, Digiammarco, Jackson (Alpozgen 89), Smith, McEvoy, Groenewald (Lamb 49), Fitzgerald, Bisby, Maza (Ruyter-Hooley 72), Terek, Pannella (Balta 82) 0 - 0 Canberra Eclipse
Beattie, Somi, Taylor, Staniforth, Davies, Wilson (Parker 78), Karp, Hepperlin, Brush (Doyle 67), Chapman, Munoz

Last year's woodenspooners Victoria Vision matched it with game favourites Canberra Eclipse on Sunday afternoon in Melbourne to finish with a 0-0 draw. The result was a repeat of the scoreless draw achieved by Victoria last year in the corresponding fixture early in the season, and is only the fifth scoreless round match in eight WNSL seasons.
New Vision coach Harry Chalkitis led his revamped though still underdog side to secure a point against the Eclipse who were missing two but still fielding four 2003 World Cup players. Canberra also has a new coach at the helm in Ayrton Andrioli.
On a wet pitch following earlier rain, the two sides played out an evenly-fought game, both with chances to score, but neither was able to break its 2002 run of goalscoring difficulties. Canberra were the more composed on the ball and held the greater amount of possession overall, whilst Victoria made dangerous chances on the counterattack. Play at times was scrappy with both teams guilty of giving away possession, and often congested in the middle of the park, play breaking free whenever the ball was spread out to the flanks.
Vision had their best chance of the first half in the 20^th minute, a freekick from rookie Amy Jackson touched on by fellow debutante Belinda Pannella, but captain Sarah Fitzgerald's shot flew just over. Five minutes later, Eclipse's Amy Wilson struck wide of the mark with the keeper beaten.
A more free-flowing second half ensued as the teams tired, and Pannella was the subject of two good Victorian chances on each side of the hour mark, the second seeing her round the goalkeeper, but cutting back in to avoid the acute angle only for keeper Amy Beattie to recover for a good save.
Canberra picked up the urgency for the final ten minutes but could not break down a dogged defence. Substitute Emily Parker had the best chance with four minutes remaining, but completely missed connecting with Amy Taylor's great cross.

Venue : Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide

Adelaide Sensation
Gubbins, May, Slater, Shigrov, Burgess (Brock 88), Vogt, McCallum, Spagnoletti (Lathouros 62), Ralph (Wilson 58), Balomenos (Day 78), De Vanna
Goal : Chichi May 50 1 - 4 Queensland Sting
Kitching, McShea, Reuter, Garven (Williams 60), Grant, Garriock, Ferguson (Mann 85), Canham, Mitchell, Walsh, Dawney (Harch 74)
Goals : Belinda Dawney 27, Alicia Ferguson 51, Jessica Mitchell 61, 90

Queensland Sting proved too strong and experienced for the young Adelaide Sensation, and dominated the game, particularly in the second half for a 4-1 win. Adelaide, on the historic day of men's side Adelaide United's first ever NSL match, were missing key players Dianne Alagich, Stacey Stocco and Emma Wirkus, and despite equalising early in the second half, were unable to stay in the contest for the remainder against the star-studded Sting.
Before a fantastic Hindmarsh Stadium crowd of around 2,000 at half time and approaching double that towards the end of the match, it was a slightly nervous start by both sides. It was then the visitors who settled in the stronger, their attack led by pacy pair Belinda Dawney and Jessica Mitchell. Queensland claimed the lead in the 26^th minute, a long through ball causing a mix-up in the Adelaide defence, allowing Dawney to steal the ball and slot home with only the keeper to beat.
The home crowd was able to cheer a sensational equaliser just five minutes after the break, defender Chichi May unleashing a shot from 40 metres out on the right which flew over the goalkeeper who was out off her line. But the celebrations ended abruptly when Queensland regained the lead in the very next minute, Alicia Ferguson on the spot to finish off a corner kick.
Adelaide, with Western Australian draft players Collette McCallum and Lisa De Vanna leading the way, never gave up, but were unable to stop the Queensland onslaught. Sting doubled their lead in the 61^st minute, a Heather Garriock through ball sending Mitchell on her way, first shrugging off the defender, before winning the one-on-one against the goalkeeper. Queensland scored their fourth in the last minute of play with another goal to Mitchell, following a neat one-two combination for an easy tap-in on goal.

Venue : Energy Australia Stadium, Newcastle

Northern NSW Pride
Herd, Cotts, Khamis (O'Toole 67), Townsend (Oxtoby 78), Shepherd, Neilson, Colthorpe, McMinn, Andreatta (Klessattel 41), Crawford, Gill 0 - 9 NSW Sapphires
Kell (Poulos 73), Gilbert, Todd, Davison, Blayney, Rockall, Ledbrook, Shipard, Carney, Burgess (Ristevski 86), Cannuli (Holcombe 76)
Goals : Catherine Cannuli 20, 64, Michelle Carney 36, 75, 81, Joanne Burgess 39, Leah Blayney 53, Sally Shipard 54, Kylie Ledbrook 86

At Newcastle's Energy Australia Stadium, Northern NSW Pride suffered a demoralising 9-0 defeat at the hands of rivals NSW Sapphires. Both fielded new-look, young lineups, Northern introducing several interstate players for the first time and also missing Ashley Wilson and Pelay Ingles through injury, whilst NSW also added a couple of new rookies to their starting eleven.
The barnstorming performance looked to become a league record scoreline, but in the end fell one short of NSW's 10-0 win of 2001 over Victoria. The defeat was Northern's equal biggest loss, going down to the same scoreline back in 1999 to Canberra.
The opening ten minutes was fairly even with little indication of the one-sided affair that was to follow. The Sapphires then soon took control and never let up, their excellent passing combinations, strength, vibrant attack and solid defence shutting out their Northern opponents.
Youth international Catherine Cannuli opened the Sapphires' account in the 20^th minute, finishing in clinical fashion amidst a scramble in the box. Michelle Carney was next with a 36^th minute strike, released with a long ball from the right before converting with a neat shot. Three minutes later, Joanne Burgess took the lead to three with a header.
NSW were not letting up on their search for goals in the second half against a Northern with few answers. Pride's rookie goalkeeper Erin Herd endured a tough initiation, but made at least five great saves, some at point blank range. Leah Blayney scored the first of the second half in the 53^rd minute, finding goal via a deflection. A minute later it was 5-0 when Sally Shipard, who hails from Wagga Wagga, celebrated her WNSL debut with a fantastic strike from the edge of the 18-yard box.
Cannuli scored her second midway through the half, a great header to finish a pinpoint cross. Carney then chimed in in the 75^th minute, her shot still finding goal despite an attempted parry by the keeper. Goal number eight was another Carney goal scored with nine minutes remaining, claiming the first hattrick for the season. Kylie Ledbrook then added her name to the scorer's list by finishing a neat cross by substitute Briony Holcombe.

Home Team		v		Away Team
Round One (played October 17 & 19)
Venue : Serbian Sports Centre, Melbourne
Victoria Vision Barbieri, Digiammarco, Jackson (Alpozgen 89), Smith, McEvoy, Groenewald (Lamb 49), Fitzgerald, Bisby, Maza (Ruyter-Hooley 72), Terek, Pannella (Balta 82)	0	-	0	Canberra Eclipse Beattie, Somi, Taylor, Staniforth, Davies, Wilson (Parker 78), Karp, Hepperlin, Brush (Doyle 67), Chapman, Munoz
Last year's woodenspooners Victoria Vision matched it with game favourites Canberra Eclipse on Sunday afternoon in Melbourne to finish with a 0-0 draw. The result was a repeat of the scoreless draw achieved by Victoria last year in the corresponding fixture early in the season, and is only the fifth scoreless round match in eight WNSL seasons. New Vision coach Harry Chalkitis led his revamped though still underdog side to secure a point against the Eclipse who were missing two but still fielding four 2003 World Cup players. Canberra also has a new coach at the helm in Ayrton Andrioli. On a wet pitch following earlier rain, the two sides played out an evenly-fought game, both with chances to score, but neither was able to break its 2002 run of goalscoring difficulties. Canberra were the more composed on the ball and held the greater amount of possession overall, whilst Victoria made dangerous chances on the counterattack. Play at times was scrappy with both teams guilty of giving away possession, and often congested in the middle of the park, play breaking free whenever the ball was spread out to the flanks. Vision had their best chance of the first half in the 20^th minute, a freekick from rookie Amy Jackson touched on by fellow debutante Belinda Pannella, but captain Sarah Fitzgerald's shot flew just over. Five minutes later, Eclipse's Amy Wilson struck wide of the mark with the keeper beaten. A more free-flowing second half ensued as the teams tired, and Pannella was the subject of two good Victorian chances on each side of the hour mark, the second seeing her round the goalkeeper, but cutting back in to avoid the acute angle only for keeper Amy Beattie to recover for a good save. Canberra picked up the urgency for the final ten minutes but could not break down a dogged defence. Substitute Emily Parker had the best chance with four minutes remaining, but completely missed connecting with Amy Taylor's great cross.
Venue : Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Adelaide Sensation Gubbins, May, Slater, Shigrov, Burgess (Brock 88), Vogt, McCallum, Spagnoletti (Lathouros 62), Ralph (Wilson 58), Balomenos (Day 78), De Vanna Goal : Chichi May 50	1	-	4	Queensland Sting Kitching, McShea, Reuter, Garven (Williams 60), Grant, Garriock, Ferguson (Mann 85), Canham, Mitchell, Walsh, Dawney (Harch 74) Goals : Belinda Dawney 27, Alicia Ferguson 51, Jessica Mitchell 61, 90
Queensland Sting proved too strong and experienced for the young Adelaide Sensation, and dominated the game, particularly in the second half for a 4-1 win. Adelaide, on the historic day of men's side Adelaide United's first ever NSL match, were missing key players Dianne Alagich, Stacey Stocco and Emma Wirkus, and despite equalising early in the second half, were unable to stay in the contest for the remainder against the star-studded Sting. Before a fantastic Hindmarsh Stadium crowd of around 2,000 at half time and approaching double that towards the end of the match, it was a slightly nervous start by both sides. It was then the visitors who settled in the stronger, their attack led by pacy pair Belinda Dawney and Jessica Mitchell. Queensland claimed the lead in the 26^th minute, a long through ball causing a mix-up in the Adelaide defence, allowing Dawney to steal the ball and slot home with only the keeper to beat. The home crowd was able to cheer a sensational equaliser just five minutes after the break, defender Chichi May unleashing a shot from 40 metres out on the right which flew over the goalkeeper who was out off her line. But the celebrations ended abruptly when Queensland regained the lead in the very next minute, Alicia Ferguson on the spot to finish off a corner kick. Adelaide, with Western Australian draft players Collette McCallum and Lisa De Vanna leading the way, never gave up, but were unable to stop the Queensland onslaught. Sting doubled their lead in the 61^st minute, a Heather Garriock through ball sending Mitchell on her way, first shrugging off the defender, before winning the one-on-one against the goalkeeper. Queensland scored their fourth in the last minute of play with another goal to Mitchell, following a neat one-two combination for an easy tap-in on goal.
Venue : Energy Australia Stadium, Newcastle
Northern NSW Pride Herd, Cotts, Khamis (O'Toole 67), Townsend (Oxtoby 78), Shepherd, Neilson, Colthorpe, McMinn, Andreatta (Klessattel 41), Crawford, Gill	0	-	9	NSW Sapphires Kell (Poulos 73), Gilbert, Todd, Davison, Blayney, Rockall, Ledbrook, Shipard, Carney, Burgess (Ristevski 86), Cannuli (Holcombe 76) Goals : Catherine Cannuli 20, 64, Michelle Carney 36, 75, 81, Joanne Burgess 39, Leah Blayney 53, Sally Shipard 54, Kylie Ledbrook 86
At Newcastle's Energy Australia Stadium, Northern NSW Pride suffered a demoralising 9-0 defeat at the hands of rivals NSW Sapphires. Both fielded new-look, young lineups, Northern introducing several interstate players for the first time and also missing Ashley Wilson and Pelay Ingles through injury, whilst NSW also added a couple of new rookies to their starting eleven. The barnstorming performance looked to become a league record scoreline, but in the end fell one short of NSW's 10-0 win of 2001 over Victoria. The defeat was Northern's equal biggest loss, going down to the same scoreline back in 1999 to Canberra. The opening ten minutes was fairly even with little indication of the one-sided affair that was to follow. The Sapphires then soon took control and never let up, their excellent passing combinations, strength, vibrant attack and solid defence shutting out their Northern opponents. Youth international Catherine Cannuli opened the Sapphires' account in the 20^th minute, finishing in clinical fashion amidst a scramble in the box. Michelle Carney was next with a 36^th minute strike, released with a long ball from the right before converting with a neat shot. Three minutes later, Joanne Burgess took the lead to three with a header. NSW were not letting up on their search for goals in the second half against a Northern with few answers. Pride's rookie goalkeeper Erin Herd endured a tough initiation, but made at least five great saves, some at point blank range. Leah Blayney scored the first of the second half in the 53^rd minute, finding goal via a deflection. A minute later it was 5-0 when Sally Shipard, who hails from Wagga Wagga, celebrated her WNSL debut with a fantastic strike from the edge of the 18-yard box. Cannuli scored her second midway through the half, a great header to finish a pinpoint cross. Carney then chimed in in the 75^th minute, her shot still finding goal despite an attempted parry by the keeper. Goal number eight was another Carney goal scored with nine minutes remaining, claiming the first hattrick for the season. Kylie Ledbrook then added her name to the scorer's list by finishing a neat cross by substitute Briony Holcombe.