A single goal from North Canberra Fire’s Bessie Riethmuller proved the difference in an epic encounter to kick-start Round 7 of the Capital Futsal League at Daramalan College on the Friday evening.
Riethmuller struck for the fifth time this season with a shot that took a slight deflection past UC Stars goalkeeper Vanessa Burdett to give the Fire a narrow 1-0 success in a match that could easily have gone either way.
The Stars played short-handed in terms of numbers available, only able to field one substitute compared to the Fire’s four and, as such, were forced to an incredible amount of defensive work particularly in the second half.
They weren’t without chances, but Jess Giovinazzo in the Fire goal proved to be an immovable object, remaining unbeaten and recording the very first clean sheet in CFL history, a remarkable achievement helped in no small part by some stout defending by those in front of her.
The goal came after sixteen minutes of a tight match, Riethmuller finding space to guide her effort past Burdett and, despite plenty of opportunities at both ends, that goal proved to the one that mattered.
Another relentless display from the West Canberra Lightning sae them increase their lead at the top of the table to five points over the Stars, following a comprehensive 7-0 win over the ANU Apex.
The damage was done by the half-time break as the league leaders led by four, Jennifer Bisset moving level at the top of the Golden Boot charts with Brittany Palombi, who missed this match, thanks to a ten-minutes hat-trick.
Rebecca Kiting struck in between Bisset’s opening brace, as the Lightning asserted their dominance and second half additions to the tally from Erika Pennyfield, her first of the season, and Dianne Wilson concluded the victory.
The match between the South Canberra Swift and Queanbeyan-Palerang Power was postponed and will be played at a later date.
WOMEN
Friday 9 December
North Canberra Fire 1 (Riethmuller 16’) UC Stars 0
Saturday 10 December
South Canberra Swift v Queanbeyan-Palerang Power – Postponed
Sunday 11 December
West Canberra Lightning 7 (Bisset 4’, 10’, 14’, Kiting 7’, 33’, Pennyfield 27’, Wilson 36’) ANU Apex 0
TABLE
TEAM | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | |
1 | Lightning | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 7 | +47 | 18 |
2 | Stars | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 13 | +20 | 13 |
3 | Fire | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 7 | +17 | 7 |
4 | Swift | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 21 | +6 | 6 |
5 | Apex | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 31 | -24 | 0 |
6 | Power | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 73 | -66 | 0 |
LEADING SCORERS
11 Jennifer BISSET (Lightning), Brittany PALOMBI (Lightning)
8 Rebecca KITING (Lightning)
7 Stella DE MARCO (Fire), Amy MCLACHLAN (Lightning), Becky RIZZO (Stars), Reilly YUEN (Stars)
6 Cara CERUTI (Swift)
5 Eliza-Jane NORRIS (Stars), Bessie RIETHMULLER (Fire), Mikayla VAN DEYK (Stars), Dianne WILSON (Lightning), Own GOALS
4 Jamie BERKELEY (Lightning), Natalie DE MARCO (Fire), Krista HAGEN (Lightning), Tayla HAMPSON (Stars), Nicole JALOCHA (Fire), Samantha PRICE (Swift), Sabrina TOUFEXIS (Swift)
3 Isabella HINDMARSH (Swift), Ginger OLIVER (Swift), Sofia PALYWODA (Swift)
2 Justine ARMSTRONG (Power), Talia BACKHOUSE (Swift), Maia CAMERON (Power), Sheridan MCELLIGOTT (Apex), Cassia MCGLASHAN (Stars), Nikita PERRY (Fire), Roxie SWART (Apex)
1 Elke AITOLU (Fire), Leah CARNEGIE (Swift), Kaitlyn COLWILL (Swift), Emily DANIEL (Stars), Grace DAVEY (Apex), Sally KISS (Power), Renee KITE (Power), Stefi LEJINS (Fire), Holly MCPHERSON (Power), Erika PENNYFIELD (Lightning), Alexandra SERRAS (Apex), Shayma TAWEEL (Apex), Kate WALKER (Stars)