Perth SC remain top after Round 10 of the NPLWA - Women’s competition after holding off a spirited UWA Nedlands 2-1 at UWA Sports Park on Sunday.
On a milestone afternoon for Uni, who were celebrating 50 years of women’s football at the club, it was the Azzurri who claimed the points to stay one point clear at the summit with a game in hand on their title rivals.
The home side almost went ahead after Matilda Bohm’s clearance hit her own crossbar. Instead, it was Perth who struck just before half-time, when Georgia Cassidy’s cross from a short-corner routine was nodded in by Jess Flannery.
NPLW RESULTS, FIXTURES & STANDINGS
UWA levelled 10 minutes into the second half when Emily Dinsdale ran onto a loose ball and put it past Dayle Schroeder, which was only the fifth goal conceded by Tom Glavovic’s team in nine games this term.
Soon after, Perth got the fixture’s decisive goal, as Bohm’s deep cross was sent back across goal by Sam Mathers and last year’s Gold Medal winner Ella Lincoln netted for the first time since returning from her stint with Perth Glory’s A-League Women’s side.
The win leaves Perth a point clear of Perth RedStar, who defeated Subiaco 4-0 at Rosalie Park to win a fifth consecutive match.
The defending champions led after a quarter of an hour when Jay Coleman headed in Caitlin Doeglas’ corner. And they doubled their lead 11 minutes later when Lauren Continibali forced home Sarah Carroll’s cross at the second time of asking, despite Monique Todd’s initial save.
RedStar should have had a third four minutes into the second half after a foul on Coleman saw the visitors awarded a penalty. However, Carroll fired her spot-kick over the bar, RedStar's second failure from the spot in as many weeks.
At the other end, Marianna Tabain had a good chance for Subi, but she shot straight at Jess Skinner from inside the area.
A superb Carroll pass then released Doeglas, who curled near post into the top corner for three, before Doeglas was involved in stoppage-time fourth when pulling back for Renee Leota, who joined her team-mate on 12 goals for the season.
Elsewhere, the Hyundai Football West Academy survived a second-half fightback from Fremantle City to prevail 4-2 and end a three-match losing run.
Emily Garnett opened the scoring midway through the first half, as Freo were caught on the ball in their own territory and the forward stole in to finish with aplomb.
Leyna Wood had an excellent chance to level just before the break but lifted over the bar when through on goal. And that proved to be a key moment as the Academy broke the game open after the interval with two goals in the space of three minutes.
Garnett scored from the penalty spot to make it 2-0 after being clattered into by Janice Kiama, and the youngsters trebled their advantage when Lacey Heys raced clear to roll across Megan Phillips for a first senior NPL goal.
Freo got themselves back in the contest just past the hour mark when Abbey Green’s whipped a long-range effort up and over Sofia Borg.
And they further enhanced their chances of a comeback when Green slipped a pass through for Sophie Meaden, who struck brilliantly from outside the box for her first goal of the season.
But the Academy wrapped it up late on, as Theodora Mouithys surged past Annabelle Leek with her effort eventually deemed to have crossed the line, having bounced down off the underside of the bar.
Those defeats for Subiaco and Fremantle City saw Balcatta Etna strengthen their grip on fourth place with an Abbey Meakins hat-trick helping them record a 6-0 win over Murdoch University Melville.
Meakins’ opener was a stunning strike from wide on the right which fizzed across goal and into the far corner after 11 minutes.
Jamie-Lee Gale rounded the goalkeeper and crossed for Liana Cook to make it 2-0 midway through the opening half, before Meakins added a third when tapping in Frankie Murray’s cross from the left.
There was still time for Meakins to drive home and add her third of first half goals with two second-half strikes further boosting Balcatta’s tally.
Murray played a one-two with Meakins and rattled across the goalkeeper for 5-0 a minute after the interval and the scoring was completed when Gale linked up with Zoee Spadano to slot in.
Balcatta’s third win in a row saw them open up a six-point gap to fifth-placed Subiaco, while MUM FC remain at the bottom of the division.
