Women's NSL - Season 2004

Women's National Soccer League

Supplied by AWSA and transcribed by Thomas Esamie

Home Team v Away Team

Round Eleven (played November 28)

Venue : Marconi Stadium, Sydney

NSW Sapphires
Poulos, Gilbert, Brogan, Rollason (O'Neill 61), Kennedy, Holcombe (Klessattel 58), Rockall, Ristevski, Hilder (Ledbrook 61), Cartwright, Dimono (Burgess 50)
Goals : Taryn Rockall 72pk, Rebecca O'Neill 83 2 - 1 Queensland Sting
Nichols, McShea, Grant (Hamer 85), Reuter, McDonnell (Kuralay 58), Polkinghorne, Ferguson, Walker, Harch, Mitchell (Nicopolous 78), Walsh
Goal : Lana Harch 66

NSW Sapphires, depleted through players' unavailability, suspension, and injury, fought hard to gain the win which now lifts them off the bottom of the ladder up into third spot. The contest between the two rivals in the searing heat was a tightly fought affair which could have gone either way, but in the end the Sapphires picked up their game to equalise soon after Sting took the lead, and produced the late winner, leaving Queensland rueful of their missed penalty in the first half.
The home side had the first chance inside three minutes, Taryn Rockall releasing Renee Cartwright, but Queensland goalkeeper Claire Nichols saved well in the one-on-one situation. Sting's pacy combination of Sarah Walsh and Jessica Mitchell then caused the early danger at the other end, Walsh sending skywards a volley from close range.
NSW's Cartwright was again denied by Nichols midway through the half, before the best chance of the term fell to teammate Lisa Gilbert but her header at the far post from a Rockall corner hit the post and out. Five minutes before the break, Queensland were awarded a penalty after a foul in the box. Lana Harch stepped up to the mark but her spot kick was well saved by NSW keeper Dmitra Poulos, who again stopped Harch from hitting home the rebound.
After the restart, Sapphires made five substitutions within the quarter-hour, looking to break through against the favourites. A long range effort from one such sub, Kylie Ledbrook, brought out another diving save by Nichols, but shortly after, it was Queensland who broke the deadlock. A stinging Harch drive from 25 metres found its target despite the attempted save of the keeper.
However, six minutes later, NSW were given a penalty after a foul on sub Neisha Klessattel, and Taryn Rockall's strike sent the keeper the wrong way and flew in off the post to level the scores. Walsh had a great chance to regain the lead for Queensland in the 80^th minute, but her attempt flew over. Three minutes later, a through ball from Belinda Ristevski from deep saw substitute Rebecca O'Neill beat the offside trap and touch the ball past the advancing keeper to the delight of the home fans.

Venue : Wanderers Oval, Newcastle

Northern NSW Pride
Herd, Salisbury, Cotts, O'Toole, Wilson, Jones, Peters, Shepherd (Stevenson 82), Howes, Kermode (Colthorpe 46), Gill
Goals : Kate Gill 70, Lindsey Jones 90 2 - 1 Adelaide Sensation
Marzotto, May, Brock, Burgess, T Harrison (Rigon 82), McCallum, Papageorgiou, Katianos, Day (Bexis 70), Barbiero (R Harrison 72), Balomenos
Goal : Stacey Day 2

In Newcastle, title contenders Norrthern NSW Pride were given a scare with an early Adelaide Sensation goal, before finally lifting midway through the second half to equalise and then snatch the win in the dying minutes of play for a 2-1 win.
Despite the early morning kickoff, the game was still played in sapping heat, and it showed for much of the game, a fairly dull battle. The visitors stung inside two minutes of the opening whistle to take the lead, when a long kick from the goalkeeper found its way to Stacey Day on the edge of the box who scored with a well struck chip over the keeper from 20 metres.
Adelaide were then content to sit back and try to defend their lead and hit forward on the counterattack, and a fairly even first half saw few good opportunities at either end.
The second half took on much the same shape until Northern raised the intensity and started to break down the opposition. Kate Gill and Meegan Shepherd both were denied by the woodwork, and Cheryl Salisbury had a shot cleared off the line. The game was back on level terms in the 70^th minute, league top scorer Gill taking on two defenders and receiving the lucky bounce off their challenges before slotting home her eleventh goal of the season.
In the 90th minute, an Adelaide corner was cleared out by Pride and turned into attack when Joanne Peters released Lindsey Jones up the left, and the American beat one defender before driving the ball into the roof of the net at the near post.

Venue : McKellar Stadium, Canberra

Canberra Eclipse
Beattie, Davies, Hosking, Spence, Blacka, Foster, Doyle (Channing 61), G Chapman, A Chapman, Brush (Chiavannacoopt 72), Munoz (Somi 61)
Goal : Gill Foster 28 1 - 1 Victoria Vision
Barbieri, Digiammarco, Jackson, Ruyter-Hooley (Terek 75), Vardakas, Totsidis, McEvoy (Fitzgerald 62), Thornton, Koutrouvelis (Lamb 56), Pfeiffer (Groenewald 69), Pannella
Goal : Sarah Fitzgerald 69

In Canberra, Canberra Eclipse and Victoria Vision played out a 1-1 draw in another heat-affected contest. Victoria had the edge for much of the game, often the more lively in the conditions and overall the more enterprising in attack.
The visitors had two good chances in the first fifteen minutes, Caroline McEvoy's header from 7 metres not far wide, before Belinda Pannella turned her marker and drove from 8 metres on the right into the sidenetting. Vision still had more of the play when Canberra opened the scoring in the 28^th minute. Amy Chapman fed the ball in from the right for Gill Foster who cut across the face of goal before a simple strike home from 12 metres.
Eclipse then came more into the game for a more even end to the half. Victoria came close in the 39^th minute, Andrea Totsidis putting a neat ball over for Christine Pfeiffer who managed to poke her foot at the ball over the advancing keeper but the shot skewed just wide of the far post. A Canberra freekick wide on the left was parried around the post by Vision keeper Melissa Barbieri, before she was again in action to stop an Ellie Brush shot.
Victoria enjoyed the majority of possession in the second half, and they were finally rewarded with the leveller midway through the half when substitute Sarah Fitzgerald unleased a scorching drive from 30 metres out which hit the left post and flew in. Eclipse had the next best chance in the 73^rd minute, Brush lobbing the ball in for Kim Channing ghosting in at the left post but her shot brought out a brilliant flying save by Barbieri to tip the ball around the right post.

Home Team		v		Away Team
Round Eleven (played November 28)
Venue : Marconi Stadium, Sydney
NSW Sapphires Poulos, Gilbert, Brogan, Rollason (O'Neill 61), Kennedy, Holcombe (Klessattel 58), Rockall, Ristevski, Hilder (Ledbrook 61), Cartwright, Dimono (Burgess 50) Goals : Taryn Rockall 72pk, Rebecca O'Neill 83	2	-	1	Queensland Sting Nichols, McShea, Grant (Hamer 85), Reuter, McDonnell (Kuralay 58), Polkinghorne, Ferguson, Walker, Harch, Mitchell (Nicopolous 78), Walsh Goal : Lana Harch 66
NSW Sapphires, depleted through players' unavailability, suspension, and injury, fought hard to gain the win which now lifts them off the bottom of the ladder up into third spot. The contest between the two rivals in the searing heat was a tightly fought affair which could have gone either way, but in the end the Sapphires picked up their game to equalise soon after Sting took the lead, and produced the late winner, leaving Queensland rueful of their missed penalty in the first half. The home side had the first chance inside three minutes, Taryn Rockall releasing Renee Cartwright, but Queensland goalkeeper Claire Nichols saved well in the one-on-one situation. Sting's pacy combination of Sarah Walsh and Jessica Mitchell then caused the early danger at the other end, Walsh sending skywards a volley from close range. NSW's Cartwright was again denied by Nichols midway through the half, before the best chance of the term fell to teammate Lisa Gilbert but her header at the far post from a Rockall corner hit the post and out. Five minutes before the break, Queensland were awarded a penalty after a foul in the box. Lana Harch stepped up to the mark but her spot kick was well saved by NSW keeper Dmitra Poulos, who again stopped Harch from hitting home the rebound. After the restart, Sapphires made five substitutions within the quarter-hour, looking to break through against the favourites. A long range effort from one such sub, Kylie Ledbrook, brought out another diving save by Nichols, but shortly after, it was Queensland who broke the deadlock. A stinging Harch drive from 25 metres found its target despite the attempted save of the keeper. However, six minutes later, NSW were given a penalty after a foul on sub Neisha Klessattel, and Taryn Rockall's strike sent the keeper the wrong way and flew in off the post to level the scores. Walsh had a great chance to regain the lead for Queensland in the 80^th minute, but her attempt flew over. Three minutes later, a through ball from Belinda Ristevski from deep saw substitute Rebecca O'Neill beat the offside trap and touch the ball past the advancing keeper to the delight of the home fans.
Venue : Wanderers Oval, Newcastle
Northern NSW Pride Herd, Salisbury, Cotts, O'Toole, Wilson, Jones, Peters, Shepherd (Stevenson 82), Howes, Kermode (Colthorpe 46), Gill Goals : Kate Gill 70, Lindsey Jones 90	2	-	1	Adelaide Sensation Marzotto, May, Brock, Burgess, T Harrison (Rigon 82), McCallum, Papageorgiou, Katianos, Day (Bexis 70), Barbiero (R Harrison 72), Balomenos Goal : Stacey Day 2
In Newcastle, title contenders Norrthern NSW Pride were given a scare with an early Adelaide Sensation goal, before finally lifting midway through the second half to equalise and then snatch the win in the dying minutes of play for a 2-1 win. Despite the early morning kickoff, the game was still played in sapping heat, and it showed for much of the game, a fairly dull battle. The visitors stung inside two minutes of the opening whistle to take the lead, when a long kick from the goalkeeper found its way to Stacey Day on the edge of the box who scored with a well struck chip over the keeper from 20 metres. Adelaide were then content to sit back and try to defend their lead and hit forward on the counterattack, and a fairly even first half saw few good opportunities at either end. The second half took on much the same shape until Northern raised the intensity and started to break down the opposition. Kate Gill and Meegan Shepherd both were denied by the woodwork, and Cheryl Salisbury had a shot cleared off the line. The game was back on level terms in the 70^th minute, league top scorer Gill taking on two defenders and receiving the lucky bounce off their challenges before slotting home her eleventh goal of the season. In the 90th minute, an Adelaide corner was cleared out by Pride and turned into attack when Joanne Peters released Lindsey Jones up the left, and the American beat one defender before driving the ball into the roof of the net at the near post.
Venue : McKellar Stadium, Canberra
Canberra Eclipse Beattie, Davies, Hosking, Spence, Blacka, Foster, Doyle (Channing 61), G Chapman, A Chapman, Brush (Chiavannacoopt 72), Munoz (Somi 61) Goal : Gill Foster 28	1	-	1	Victoria Vision Barbieri, Digiammarco, Jackson, Ruyter-Hooley (Terek 75), Vardakas, Totsidis, McEvoy (Fitzgerald 62), Thornton, Koutrouvelis (Lamb 56), Pfeiffer (Groenewald 69), Pannella Goal : Sarah Fitzgerald 69
In Canberra, Canberra Eclipse and Victoria Vision played out a 1-1 draw in another heat-affected contest. Victoria had the edge for much of the game, often the more lively in the conditions and overall the more enterprising in attack. The visitors had two good chances in the first fifteen minutes, Caroline McEvoy's header from 7 metres not far wide, before Belinda Pannella turned her marker and drove from 8 metres on the right into the sidenetting. Vision still had more of the play when Canberra opened the scoring in the 28^th minute. Amy Chapman fed the ball in from the right for Gill Foster who cut across the face of goal before a simple strike home from 12 metres. Eclipse then came more into the game for a more even end to the half. Victoria came close in the 39^th minute, Andrea Totsidis putting a neat ball over for Christine Pfeiffer who managed to poke her foot at the ball over the advancing keeper but the shot skewed just wide of the far post. A Canberra freekick wide on the left was parried around the post by Vision keeper Melissa Barbieri, before she was again in action to stop an Ellie Brush shot. Victoria enjoyed the majority of possession in the second half, and they were finally rewarded with the leveller midway through the half when substitute Sarah Fitzgerald unleased a scorching drive from 30 metres out which hit the left post and flew in. Eclipse had the next best chance in the 73^rd minute, Brush lobbing the ball in for Kim Channing ghosting in at the left post but her shot brought out a brilliant flying save by Barbieri to tip the ball around the right post.