North Canberra Fire jumped above the South Canberra Swift on the Women’s Capital Futsal League ladder with a convincing 4-2 success at Daramalan College in the opening match of Round 8.
The Fire began brilliantly and were two to the good before six minutes had elapsed as Stella De Marco struck twice early on to give her team the ascendency which despite showing plenty of pluck were unable to find a way pass Jess Giovinazzo who, by keeping a clean sheet in the first-half moved to sixty minutes without conceding a goal.
At the other end the Fire were able to add to the De Marco double as Stefi Lejins, scorer of two last week, netted in off the post to make it 3-0, before Bessie Riethmuller rounded off a slick move to tap in a Stella De Marco pass and send the Fire into the interval four goals clear and looking the goods.
It was a much-improved Swift display in the second-half, reducing the deficit early on as Kaitlyn Colwill wriggled away from the defence to ram a low shot into the bottom corner, and latterly flicked a first-time pass from Reilly Yuen into the net to give the Swift belief. However, Fire was never truly in danger and held on to win.
ANU Apex were too strong for a stubborn Queanbeyan-Palerang Power team but were made to work hard for a third win of the season, defeating their opponents 9-0 in the second match of the weekend.
There were half-a-dozen different goalscorers inside the opening twenty minutes of the contest as ANU Apex took firm control of the match after scoring two goals inside the opening two minutes of the encounter through the impressive Edith Fordyce-Croker and Brianna Maguire.
With control of the tempo and possession, ANU were able to create enough openings to add to the tally as Emily Robertson netted the third, and Grace Davey made it four before eleven minutes had elapsed.
The Power defended well with Maja Dodt making some excellent saves, and Jasmine Norton blocking some powerful efforts alongside her teammates, but neither could prevent Ailish McDonagh locking in the fifth. Roxie Swart added the sixth goal in the 14th minute after having a goal disallowed.
Power worked hard defensively again after the break and restricted the Apex to a further three goals through Amalia Edevane, their first at this level, Swart and Robertson whilst at the other end Jasmine Norton went close to a rare Power goal.
West Canberra Lightning moved six points clear at the top of the table and within touching distance of claiming back-to-back top spots in the CFL with a comprehensive 16-0 dismantling of UC Stars.
Brittany Palombi and Jamie Berkeley each scored five times in the rout, the former moving onto twenty goals for the season, the latter having now scored seventeen times herself, as the tournament favourites re-found their grove after losing their unbeaten streak last week.
The goalscoring duo were ably supported by their teammates as the goals were netted at regular intervals, particularly during a torrid second spell for the Stars. Tatum Mazis and Dianne Wilson scored in the first stanza, but it was towards the end of the game that the sore blew out.
Isabella Barac grabbed a brace, and Amy McLachlan and Madeliene Perceval also got in on the act as the Lightning reaffirmed their class.
RESULTS
Fri: South Canberra Swift 2 (Colwill 23’, 33’) North Canberra Fire 4 (S. De Marco 3’, 6’, Lejins 18’, Riethmuller 19’)
Sat: ANU Apex 9 (Fordyce-Croker 2’, Maguire 2’, Robertson 6’, 39’, Davey 11’, McDonagh 13’, Swart 14’, 38’, Edevane 28’) QP Power 0
Sun: West Canberra Lightning 16 (Palombi 2’, 21’, 22’, 33’, 40’, Berkeley 4’, 12’, 28’, 36’, 37’, Mazis 6’, Wilson 9’, Barac 24’, 40’, McLachlan 36’, Perceval 39’) UC Stars 0
TABLE
P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
1 | West Canberra Lightning | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 86 | 12 | +74 | 21 |
2 | North Canberra Fire | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 41 | 22 | +19 | 15 |
3 | South Canberra Swift | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 64 | 23 | +41 | 12 |
4 | UC Stars | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 43 | 52 | -9 | 12 |
5 | ANU Apex | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 40 | 46 | -6 | 9 |
6 | QP Power | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 123 | -119 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
22 Reilly YUEN (Swift)
20 Brittany PALOMBI (Lightning)
17 Jamie BERKELEY (Lightning)
15 Isabella BARAC (Lightning)
11 Tatum MAZIS (Lightning)
9 Emily ROBERTSON (Apex)
8 Sienna BIRNIE (Swift), Kaitlyn COLWILL (Swift)
7 Ella PALFRAMAN (Stars), Maddie STEINACKER (Stars)
6 Natalie DE MARCO (Fire), Bessie RIETHMULLER (Fire), Alexandra SERRAS (Apex)
5 Jennifer BISSET (Lightning), Sharon CHAO (Swift), Emily DANIEL (Stars), Stella DE MARCO (Fire), Edith FORDYCE-CROKER (Apex), Isabella HINDMARSH (Swift), Jada LAMOND (Stars), Ginger OLIVER (Swift), Becky RIZZO (Stars), Dianne WILSON (Lightning)
4 Sofia CHAVERRA (Apex), Grace DAVEY (Apex), Tayla HAMPSON (Stars), Stefi LEJINS (Fire), Amy MCLACHLAN (Lightning), Sofia PALYWODA (Swift), Pearl TEIN (Fire)
3 Elke AITOLU (Fire), Ella BROWN (Fire), Ailish MCDONAGH (Apex), Eiza-Jane NORRIS (Stars), Madeliene PERCEVAL (Lightning), Nikita PERRY (Fire), Samantha PRICE (Swift), Ayla ROBERTSON (Fire), Own GOALS
2 Cara CERUTI (Swift), Tallis EVERARD (Power), Olivia GURNEY (Fire), Pascale LA HEI (Apex), Brianna MAGUIRE (Apex), Jasmine NORTON (Power), Erika PENNYFIELD (Lightning), Roxie SWART (Apex)
1 Elke DUNN (Stars), Amalia EDEVANE (Apex), Jessica GIOVINAZZO (Fire), Charli GREGSON (Stars), Krista HAGEN (Lightning), Isabella HOPKINS (Apex), Samantha HOST (Lightning), Alyse JENSEN (Swift), Sheridan MCELLIGOTT (Apex), Emily PEARCE (Swift), Sabrina SPINAPOLICE (Stars), Kate WALKER (Stars)